


let us meet again

by dirtstarP (chosuiri)



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Fantasy, M/M, Reincarnation AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 07:12:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11031225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chosuiri/pseuds/dirtstarP
Summary: after a lowly sneak attack in the forest, two heroes lose their lives. though hundreds of years may pass, memories and feelings persist in miraculous ways.





	1. the fallen

**Author's Note:**

> yeah i have no idea to add side comments and i'm too lazy to learn but here we go.... idk if i'll ever write out a true reason as to why that glob was there but... next chapter will at least hint at its origin.... okay seeya this has been your local dirt eater

“You can’t escape!” Guttural roars of barbarians, shadowed thickly by the trees, echoed within the forest. On the fox’s right, a short yet athletic ninja, one eye covered by his hair, was trying desperately to avoid the arrows coming from their enemies. On the fox’s left, his brother, an identical fox youkai, was slipping through the barrage.

In front ran the leader of the squadron, a man of a blazing heart… or whatever he said. Following closely behind that burning man was another, more otherworldly, and a strand of hair that stuck out from his head bounced as he ran. Somewhat distanced between the two solidified groups was a man- rather, boy, really- whose paces, despite being punctuated by groans of annoyance, kept up speed. And beside the fox’s twin, another, the same age as the ninja and depressed boy, slashed apart arrows with a sharp sword. His orange eyes blazed in defiance of their hopeless situation.

“Te~tsu-kun, you better loosen up,” chided the brother. Hinata slapped Tetora’s back good-naturedly.

Tetora grumbled in a low voice, “I would if I could. This is just so cowardly! Who would ambush a group of heroes?!”

“Heroes and two fox youkai,” hummed Hinata. He dashed ahead, but an arrow in his path made him veer right back around to Tetora’s side. “Yeesh. That was a close call. Yuuta-kun, doing okay?”

Yuuta couldn’t believe how much energy Hinata still had. It took almost everything he had to continue running at full speed; he nodded briefly and lowered his head to focus.

Beside Yuuta, Shinobu kept darting uncertain glances over to the front and back to themselves. He seemed worried about something, but could it be his natural inability to talk acting up again?

“S-shinobu-kun, what’s wrong?” Yuuta wheezed out the words, making Shinobu jump.

“O-oh, it seems that…” The ninja jerked back his head to avoid an arrow, and he continued speaking. “Some time ago, yours truly was informed by the frog spirits of this sneak attack…” Another arrow dodged, he hesitated to pick out his next words. “Um, yes… Of this mission… two of us would lose our lives…” His eyes were not as timid as his voice, however, and they blazed with defiance. “However, we shall do what we must to defy this fate!”

The barbarians seemed especially eager to attack their smallest member. No matter where Yuuta looked, the arrows flew this way and that, and somehow they almost always lodged themselves in the trees where Shinobu had been running past. Was that a premonition? No. Yuuta couldn’t allow it. He shook his head and faced forward, murmuring, “Shinobu-kun… That prediction will definitely not come true. I swear.”

There was a shaking in Shinobu’s voice as he smiled and said, “That is reassuring,” as he jumped over arrows. Of course it would come true. The frog spirits’ prophecies were impeccable. But both of them were holding this dim shred of hope that all the members of the squadron, Ryuseitai, as they were called, as well as the twins, would make it out alive. It tried fate, and no one could ever deny destiny’s call.

Hinata hovered closer to the two, leaning his head in. “What’re we doing? Gossipping? Lemme tell you, Tetsu-kun’s actually prone to tripping himself up in his cape! Nyahaha! But don’t tell him I said that!”

Tetora, who had been running closer so as to protect them from the stream of arrows, immediately sliced his sword in front of Hinata’s face, leaving the fox youkai wide-eyed. His eyes were steely. “What? I didn’t hear anything. Please, continue with your talk.”

“Oh, how daring!” cooed Hinata, patting Tetora’s shoulder. His grin was spreading, as if he were itching to make another jab on the hero’s dignity.

The leader in front, however, interrupted their comedy act. He yelled from his position in the lead, “Ryuseitai! Focus on getting out here alive!” His scarf fluttered in the wind, and despite covering such a large area it was barely fazed by the arrows, impeccable as the man’s view of justice.

“Yes…” The blue-haired vice captain of Ryuseitai called back to them. His voice, although low and rather quiet, carried very far. Glowing lights on his uniform were still visible through the darkness of the forest, and his movements were smooth. “You are the ‘children’ of Ryuseitai; thus, you carry our hopes and dreams.”

“Hopes… and dreams…? Sounds like a pain…” Sighing, the tallest member of Ryuseitai had to duck especially low when arrows aimed at him. He kept up the strides, and with his long legs he continued to pace at an above-average speed.

Tetora barked at the tall boy, “Midori-kun, you know that you don’t have to keep ducking, right? You can actually move from side to side!”

Midori tilted his head up to consider that for a moment. “Huh, what do you mean… Hm?” He tilted sideways to avoid an arrow. “Oh… that actually worked! I don’t have to keep ducking! Tetora-kun, you’re a genius!” His eyes shone in delight.

“No, no! That’s just what someone normal would think! Midori-kun, were you too lazy to think up an actual solution?” Hinata flapped his hands over at Midori.

Midori tilted his head to think again. “Yeah, I guess…Whatever...”

The captain, Chiaki “of the burning heart”, bellowed with laughter, “Fuhahaha! Looks like you guys are doing well!” Somehow, everyone listening could visualize a star next to his words. That was a strange power of his.

“Hmm… Shinobu, why didn’t you tell us about the ‘prediction?’” The vice captain’s voice spread, lingering in the air before the impact of his words disappeared. His name, Kanata, sounded just like another word that represented a far away distance. True to his name, he could hear such a quiet conversation, one which spelled the doom of two members in their group.

The mood immediately darkened. Chiaki didn’t speak for a while, then he said gently, “Sengoku. No matter what prediction you got, we’ll try and turn it into our favor. Tell us so that we’re prepared.”

Shinobu, being put on the spot, couldn’t help but answer. The barbarians, who seemed only to be faceless mercenaries, wouldn’t be able to know what he was talking about. “The spirits… they have foretold the death of two of us. Though there is no reason as to how we may die, they made it clear that it is on this mission that two will perish.”

It was the first time most of them had heard of it. Tetora’s eyes went wide, and he growled, “I’m not lettin’ anyone die on my watch! Not to these dumb apes!” He hurled a sharp object into the shadows, and a barbarian’s screech made everyone cringe. “Why can’t we even attack these guys?”

Voice bitter, Chiaki responded, “That’s not our mission. We have to transport the twins safely to the information brokers UNDEAD, and that’s where we have to part ways.” His back was now fully on the groups, resolve hardened as he continued. “We won’t let anyone die here.”

Kanata seconded that. “We mustn’t cause any unnecessary ‘bloodshed’ on our way. If I could, I would like to ‘destroy’ these enemies…” His light green eyes betrayed an anger that was deep as the ocean, a rare expression that was never seen before.

Yuuta couldn’t believe how far they were going just to deliver himself and Hinata to UNDEAD. They could have left time and time again, but Ryuseitai insisted on protecting the two the whole way to the information brokers. Why? The trees thinned as Yuuta agonized over the heroes’ unending kindness.

“We of Ryuseitai are heroes,” said Shinobu lightly, answering Yuuta’s mental question. As Yuuta turned his head in shock, Shinobu looked away quickly. “I-it is not as if yours truly as tried to predict what Yuuta-kun had been saying! No, it was… but an idea as to what… you may be thinking,” he finished lamely.

Yuuta couldn’t hold in his laughter anymore. “S-shinobu-kun…” He began to snicker, though the time definitely didn’t call for that, “Thank you.”

“A-ahh,” sputtered Shinobu, his face turning flush red, “No need to mention that…”

As the forest began to thin out from a lack of trees, Hinata nudged Tetora’s side. “Hey, if we get rid of this stinky prophecy, how about you give me a well-done kiss? I’m totally tired from this! I need a reward!”

Tetora swatted Hinata away before what he had just inquired could fully register. Then it hit him. “Wh-wh-wh-what!?” Tetora’s ears had assumed a color not unlike a sunburn. “D-don’t say something that embarrassing all of a sudden!”

“Tetsu-kun, it’s just a joke,” Hinata laughed. But he faced forward again, rather disappointed to the extremity of Tetora’s reaction. “Nothing harm in trying to find something to cheer me up, get it?”

Tetora muttered as he looked away, still red as a tomato, “T-that’s just…”

The trees were getting ever thinner, spacing out. Yuuta could feel the hot air from the desert where UNDEAD set up its headquarters, and he could taste his anticipation as well. Finally, they’d be able to beat the prophecy. All of them could return home-

A scream of terror.

It came from Midori.

Their heads shot to the boy in the middle, whose gaze was fixed on a looming shape that hovered in front of Chiaki and Kanata. It was completely silent, its nebulous body swirling full of darkness. Midori cried, “Look out!”

The shape raised some part of it, holding itself menacingly. It swiped at the ground where Chiaki and Kanata had been just seconds before, and the leaves, the dirt, the trees were shredded into pieces.

Chiaki, who had darted around the shape, quickly recovered and shouted out orders to the other members of Ryuseitai. But, lost in the haze of the shape, which likely blocked out sound as well, the orders were garbled. “UNDEAD… rescue… death… wait!”  
Kanata had deftly dodged the blow, now slowing his pace. He called out some words as well: “Don’t… sky… arrows…!”

“UNDEAD will come to rescue us. We can’t let death win, and all we have to do is wait,” mumbled Tetora. “Don’t take to the sky. The arrows will hit you.” He wiped his brow, now too exhausted to parry any arrows. His sword was now sheathed. “Easier said than done, huh?”

Midori stumbled in front of the shape, and the four of them watched in horror as it raised a threatening portion of itself again. He was swung aside by some unknown force, and looking beyond the shape they could see an unclear outline of Kanata’s hand, glowing with some power. With help from the enigma, Midori managed to clear the obstacle, and his look of pure fear as he looked back at his comrades was palpable. “Y-you can do it!”

His voice rang clearly, and for some reason the shape never followed those in the front. Was its only mission to provide a cumbersome enemy to trip them up? Who could have made such a horrifying monster in the first place?

It pulsed with power that it hadn’t with the other three as the four at the back approached. It glowed, not like the bright light that Kanata carried around him, but a dark shadow that grew from it inside. It lurched toward the four, now two sides preparing to slash at all of them.

“Quickly, this way!” Shinobu tugged Yuuta over closer to him, and they swerved around the shape by an inch as it obliterated the bushes they had jumped over. “W-we seem to have made it- ah!” His voice caught on a painful note as he finished his sentence, but Yuuta had no time to waste. He pulled Shinobu along, holding the purple-haired boy tight as he dodged arrows.

Tetora had escaped to the right with Hinata. Tetora’s energy seemed to have been regained as a challenge came, and as he ducked the swing from the shape, the red streaks in his hair blurring within the shadows; Hinata energetically ducked in tandem. They both cleared the obstacle, and all they had to do was clear the forest, which was all but gone.

That wasn’t what fate had in store.

As soon as the shape was passed, it dissipated into a cloud of mist, as if it had finished its duty. Hinata jeered, “Yeah, serves you right!” His voice took on a quieter tone, “Tetsu-kun, we’re almost at the end… I have something to tell you…”

Tetora had been facing to the front, but at the gentle urging of Hinata’s voice he turned back. “Yeah, what’s up-” His eyes widened. Something that only he could see was approaching. A single dart.

Tetora shoved Hinata aside, gripping him tightly and wincing as the dart pierced his neck. Tetora immediately removed it, but he began to cough, to Hinata’s horror. “T-tetsu-kun…?”

All of them had cleared the forest. The barbarians’ arrows had ceased.

Chiaki and Kanata were there at the sides to assist the remaining members of Ryuseitai as they escaped the forest. Midori was uncertainly plucking grasses off the ground, eyes darting back and forth, always lingering on the forest as if he were afraid that the arrows would come flying again and the shape would lurch out of the woods.

Chiaki took a sweeping gaze around his comrades, and his gaze switched to panic, then a steely determination as his eyes came to look at Tetora, who was being supported one-sidedly by Hinata. “Nagumo. What’s wrong!?”

Yuuta cast a terrified look at Tetora, then down to Shinobu. His heart leapt into his throat. Shinobu’s breathing was shallow, and one side of his face was slowly turning ashen. “Shinobu-kun… what happened?” Yuuta’s voice rose to a shriek as he tried to place Shinobu upright.

Kanata hurried to Shinobu’s side, and Midori had gotten up, gaze switching from both of his friends and true distraught in his eyes. Kanata tried to place his hand on Shinobu’s back, but a sizzling sound came from immediate contact. With a look of disgust and fear in equal amounts, Kanata removed his hand without a word.

The ninja collapsed, crumpling to the ground as if he were a doll. Tetora, not even a few feet apart, did the same. Yuuta finally spotted what had caused this: a single dart, which had pierced Shinobu’s ankle, had injected its poison into him.

The pallid shade had spread throughout both their bodies; their eyes were fluttering, each breath rattling as the poison settled in. Though they must have gone through tireless training to join the ranks of Ryuseitai, what good was that when a single poison dart spelled the end of their lives?

Chiaki was staring at the two of them, hands shaking as he gripped their shoulders. “Nagumo… Sengoku…” He couldn’t say any more, and the man who represented the sun had set. Shoulders heaving as he sobbed, Chiaki didn’t mind that the two of them were looking at him fondly. Chiaki’s tears streamed down his cheeks.

Midori was standing a little ways off from the group, but at Kanata’s beckoning, he trudged over. His face was lowered, but they could clearly see tears dripping from his face no matter how he tried to conceal them. “Why didn’t I die…?” His look of frustration was out of place on his usually languid face, glowering with anger at himself and his situation. “Why didn’t I die instead!?”

Kanata placed a calming hand on Midori’s shoulder, but he, too, wore a face twisted in tranquil fury. Though he rarely ever expressed any extreme emotions, Kanata’s eyes were seething with rage. “Midori. We could not have done ‘anything.’ It is up to us to ‘avenge’ them now.”

Amidst Chiaki’s sobs, Hinata exchanged a few words with Tetora, who was lying down with his cap clutched in his hand. “Hey, Tetsu-kun?”

“What, Hinata-kun?”

“Do you… regret it? Regret saving yourself for… for someone like me?” Hinata lowered his eyes to the ground.

Tetora tried to laugh, but what came out was a choking spasm. His eyes had grown dull, his skin pale as the poison was leaching life out of the young man. “Why would I ever regret that? Y-you… better make it back to UNDEAD safe… Or else, I’ll find you somewhere… and… and…” His eyes fluttered. “Wait, Hinata-kun. Something I gotta do…”

Hinata let his eyes painfully drift back to Tetora’s ashen face, but a surprisingly strong grip pulled him down, Hinata’s lips meeting Tetora’s. Hinata’s eyes widened, pooling with tears, and he let his thoughts wander for a few seconds before pulling away. “Wh-what was that for, Tetsu-kun?!” Pictures of a cherry blossom tree, shedding its flowers and revealing a youthful face of blazing orange eyes, manifested themselves in Hinata’s mind.

Tetora’s laugh was now hollow, almost inaudible as tears from above him dropped on his cheeks. “I-I guess… instead of a well-done kiss, that was… a good-bye kiss… Did that cheer you up…?” Without another word, he closed his eyes and ceased to breathe.

At the same time, Yuuta was kneeling in front of Shinobu, clutching at his hand. “I-I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I didn’t notice you were hit… I’m sorry…” Yuuta sobbed into Shinobu’s gloved hand, lamenting his uselessness. Yuuta didn’t notice Shinobu calling out for him until he stopped, and by then he had wasted most of his tears.

“Yuuta-kun… Thank you…” Shinobu whispered, his face colorless. “We could not quite defy destiny, it seems…”

Yuuta pounded at the grass, hissing, “What do you have to thank me for?! I was the one who ignored you when you made that pained sound! I was the one who was always in your care the whole time!” Flashes of a clap of thunder, weakness, and being healed back to full health. “You saved me!” Images of an attack, being picked up, and an awkward kindness. “You rescued me!” But a look at Shinobu’s gentle face, now seemingly all-knowing, stopped his rant in his throat.

Shinobu hummed, “Thus is the fate humans must go through. However… one must be frustrated…” He blinked slowly. “But thank you, Yuuta-kun. You gave someone a purpose to exist… If a ninja could have served someone in his lifetime… That was my greatest achievement… meeting you.”

Yuuta choked back a sob, and he leaned forward, letting his lips graze Shinobu’s as the latter took his final breath. “Shinobu-kun… Let’s meet again someday.”

They lay there, expressions peaceful. It gave an unearthly feel to the scene as Chiaki, still sobbing, knelt with his head down. Midori stood in front of his fallen comrades and friends, eyes devoid of any emotion lest they all come spilling out. Kanata’s face was unreadable, but doubtless, holding expressions that swirled with the wrath of drowned men.

Silently, Hinata and Yuuta removed themselves from the sides of the fallen heroes. They faced the forest, gripping hands. The twins together, though regularly dormant, were able to summon an element of their choice when emotions overflowed. When their thoughts were not in tandem, those elements would sputter out, a proof of their inability to cooperate. However, if driven by powerful enough emotion, lightning storms that they summoned would last weeks if they so desired. The only thing they needed now, however, was the destruction of the forest which had taken such dear comrades away.

Fire. Blaze. Incinerate. Burn the woods to ashes. Ignite the flesh of those who so foolishly decided to take someone’s life.

Hinata placed his right hand on Yuuta’s left, who gripped it tightly. Yuuta held out his right hand. Hinata held out his left. They focused their thoughts, facing palms toward the forest.

A flicker of a small fire, as if it could have come from a match, sprouted at the root of a tree. It grew larger. Another one sprang up, and another. The ground of the forest was now littered with smoldering flames, small as if they were uncertain to grow any further. Then, they all flared up. Jumping from tree to tree, the fire was enveloping the woods in anger. It thrummed with rage that was unmatched by the stalwart power of the woods. Nothing stood a chance against their fury. Until the horizon went up in flames, screams of the barbarians lingering in the forest permeated the air. Their pained cries stayed as mementos of their folly.

Watching the forest be set ablaze, the remaining members of Ryuseitai focused their gazes on the twins as well. Tears slid down their cheeks, as if each other were a mirror image.

“They never wanted this to happen.”

\--

Centuries had passed since then. Everything went in a blur. They had made it to UNDEAD’s information ring without a problem. They buried the bodies, but Yuuta did remember Hinata clutching onto Tetora’s cap. It was a keepsake. Ryuseitai said their farewells.

After some time, however, the UNDEAD corporation began to be somewhat stuffy for the twins. They longed for fresh air and a chance to truly stretch their legs. After some tearful farewells on Rei’s part, the twins left. Unbeknownst to him, although they had promised to stay together, the twins separated once they were out of sight. They’d known from some time ago that their existence itself would be a danger.

There was also the issue of youkai hunting. Some mythical creatures were being targeted due to their rarity, and the extremely prized fox youkai in particular were in distress. After a particularly threatening situation in which both twins were left bruised and battered, they learned from experience and taught themselves to manipulate their characteristics of being fox youkai to appear and disappear at will.

Decades passed. Then centuries. Though not completely on different sides of the continent, the twins would never pass by each other again. Until they encountered a miracle.

\--


	2. revival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> after centuries of wandering, the twins have settled down somewhere. at a certain temple, yuuta meets with an unruly band of warriors who call themselves "knights" and encounters something he would have never expected to see again. meanwhile, hinata's making his acquaintance with a youthful trio when he hears tell of a legend. at the same time as this, however, some dark figures are striking the cities...

Yuuta swept the temple grounds, the spring breeze tasting sweet on his tongue. The cherry blossoms scattered as if they were a fleeting dream. How many years had it been since the incident in the forest occurred? His thoughts would stray, but his mind would always wander back to the woods, flickering up in flames as he held hands with someone whose face he would always see when he looked into a mirror.

But those memories had faded away. Try as he might, he couldn’t remember that face of someone he had wished to be bound for life with. It was only a daze, anyways. Fox youkai, if not killed, would live forever to roam the earth; they could not take their own lives, and of course Hinata was unwilling to kill his own brother. He could never have lived together with the hero after all.

Some part of Yuuta, however, wished that they somehow could. It was something that he clung to desperately.

He gripped the broom ever tighter with one hand so that he couldn’t let any tears fall, and he smoothed down his clothing so as to occupy his other. The purplish tint of his outfit wasn’t dislikable, nor was the floral pattern, but the fact that it was styled as a dress was somewhat annoying.

Before they parted, Hinata had bought matching outfits for the two of them, providing something to change out of when their clothes as foxes had become worn. “Just some special clothes,” he chirped as he handed them to his brother. “Don’t worry, I left the money on the counter!”

Now Yuuta was regretting ever taking those clothes. Whenever visitors to the temple arrived, they would directly refer to him as “lil’ miss” or “pretty girl,” most recently.

The first one had come from a tall red-haired man whose gaze was piercing yet hid a kindness that Yuuta could notice despite his air of intimidation. His uniform signified that he was a member of the attacking division of some part of the government.

The second one had come from a cheery young man whose orange hair bounced in the wind, wearing some kimono that, despite its volume, didn’t seem to trip up his paces. He was very… touchy-feely. Luckily, before he could start hugging Yuuta, his other three group members pulled him back and made him apologize for his behavior, though it took a while.

Yuuta’s constant presence in the temple had been prompted after the owner of the temple allowed his permanent stay; the owner didn’t mind that he lived forever. In fact, the owner would have been glad that someone would be able to take care of the temple when he passed away. He did, and Yuuta ended up having to maintain the temple for years… and years… and years.

Stepping over to a side that was obscured by the trees, Yuuta continued sweeping. His actions were monotonous and continuous, but clanking from the temple steps made him freeze. Was it the government, sent to close down the temple?

Raucous laughter, however, immediately dispelled his unease. A group of five was slowly making its way up the steps, and in front was some ruffian whose voice was making the most noise out of them. His orange hair was dull, unlike that other visitor’s shiny, sun-like hair.

Following him were four of his companions, who seemed quite used to his noise but were all irritated. A gray-haired young man (was he gray because of being in a group with that loud guy?) pinched the rogue’s cheek, launched into a tirade about how he was disturbing the sanctity of the temple. His outfit, black and white, were fitting on his equally clear-cut figure.

Yuuta was about to object to the gray-haired man’s hypocrisy when the blond member of the group, clad in a navy outfit and billowing cape, nudged the monochrome one in the back. “Shh! Izumi-chan, you’re being annoying, too!”

“Haah? It’s not like I’m the one making a ton of noise in the first place!”

Behind them, a black-haired young man, wearing an outfit of a cursed tengu, whose hair was jet-black and eyes were blood red, yawned. He bore a striking resemblance to the leader of UNDEAD somehow. “You guys are all annoying… I’m gonna sleep…” He began to sway back and forth before the final member rapidly tapped his back.

“Ritsu-senpai, please cease this at once,” moaned the red-haired member. Though he seemed inexperienced at first look, he was clothed in magnificently knightly attire. His air of nobility was palpable, not detracted in the slightest by the din from his group members. “We are Knights, honorable and proud! It would tarnish our reputation!”

“Hmm. I don’t really see what’s the problem, Tsukasa-chan.” The blond member looked deep in thought but immediately directed two bright purple eyes to Yuuta. “Oh, hello!”

Yuuta gave an uncertain reply, and out of his confusion as to who really was the leader, decided to opt with talking to the blond member in the end. He took some steps towards the group, bowing. “Welcome to my humble temple.”

“Sorry for intruding on you,” hummed the blond Knight. “We’re just here because our leader-” A pointed glare at the loud member. “-wanted to check out some sights. See, he’s come back from a long journey… I’m Arashi, but you can call me your big sister!” Wink, and a held-out hand in the gesture of friendship.

Yuuta bit back the most obvious question (“You’re not a woman, though?”) and shook Arashi’s hand. He proceeded with another question on his mind. “That’s your leader? But he’s… so…” Yuuta hesitated but found he couldn’t keep going lest he insult someone.

Izumi, the gray-haired Knight, finished Yuuta’s question: “So loud? Annoying? Troublesome? Irritating? Yeah, I agree!” He finished tugging on their leader’s cheek. “What do you have to say for yourself? Not even five minutes into ending up somewhere and everyone knows you’re some obnoxious Ou-sama!”

The leader (A king, perhaps?) stuck his tongue out at Izumi. “It’s not like being in the wilderness for a year really helped, idiot!” Then he finally registered his surroundings. “Oh, hey! A temple!”

“Yes, Leader, a _temple_ ,” Tsukasa, the red haired member, said wearily. “You had requested that we come here, did you not?”

“Wahaha! I don’t really remember! Also, what’s your name!?” The leader jumped back in mock fright, but it was likely that he actually didn’t remember Tsukasa’s name.

Tsukasa stared at their leader in disbelief, which soon turned to exasperation. “My name is Suou Tsukasa! How many times do I have to repeat this fact?” It was obvious that he had told their leader time and time again of his name but was ignored with every instance.

Yuuta laughed a little at their interactions, which seemed almost like the comedy acts of hundreds of years ago. Almost like a hazy dream now, he could remember laughing with his brother alongside Ryuseitai… Or did he really remember that? Was it all just an idea conjured up in his head from loneliness? He didn’t know. Yuuta shook his head to clear his thoughts, then he thought of the name, which invoked images of a military descent. “Wait, Suou? As in that huge noble family?”

Tsukasa immediately swung his head over and excitedly went up to Yuuta, shaking his hands with an eagerness that betrayed his previous seriousness. “Do you, perchance, know of the knightly legacy of the Suou? What a pleasant surprise! You must be a cultured young woman!”

“I’m a guy.”

Silence for a few seconds. Then Tsukasa lowered his head and let go of Yuuta’s hands, walking backward to drop himself on a stone that cobbled the path. “I… I apologize.”

The dark-haired Knight, Ritsu, had been gazing over at Yuuta ever since he had been reminiscing about Ryuseitai, or was it just Yuuta’s imagination? “Hey, you,” he said, blinking sleep out of his eyes blearily.

“Y-yes?” Yuuta had been preoccupied with looking at the antics of the other members, so he hadn’t had time to talk with Ritsu. “Is there anything wrong?”

“Yeah, there is.” Ritsu lazily stalked towards Yuuta, who couldn’t budge for some reason. Was it some air of intimidation, or the dark aura that pulsed from him? Different from that hazy shape, however, it wasn’t dangerous; rather, it was narcotic, and Yuuta’s knees began to buckle. Ritsu caught him with a pale hand. “Don’t die on me, got it?”

“Mmhmm.” Yuuta was dizzy.

Ritsu looked deep into Yuuta’s eyes, and he could feel some part of the mysterious Knight’s eyes probing Yuuta’s memories, into his soul. “You lost something a long time ago, didn’t you…”

“H-how did you-” Yuuta stood up and pushed Ritsu’s hand away. That lazy speech was familiar, though. “Sakuma-senpai…?”

Ritsu flinched. “Ugh. I guess you know that guy. Whatever, not like he’s really that important anymore.” At Yuuta’s mention of Rei, Ritsu rolled his eyes and assumed his prior lethargy. “You’re pretty hurt by what happened… A century ago? Two?”

Yuuta took a full step back. “I don’t deny it… But how do you even know?” There was definitely something special about Ritsu. He even had a relationship to the leader of UNDEAD. “Are you… Sakuma-senpai’s brother?”

Ritsu averted his eyes. “We’re done talking about this. He’s not my brother anymore, and I’m now with this annoying group.”

Speaking of annoying group, the leader had begun to roam around, poking around at the buildings and ground. “Whoaaa, is this stuff real? It’s like some place made by the gods!” All of a sudden, however, he angled his head, and his eyes sharpened.

Before Yuuta could ask what was going on, the rest of Knights, save for Tsukasa still dejectedly sitting, had focused their serious eyes on a single tree. It began shaking, dropping leaves onto its surroundings.

“Begone, tree!” The leader cackled, unsheathing a huge sword. He chopped down the tree in one slice, and it toppled immediately.

Leaves fluttered down, and a larger shadow fell down as well, landing safely onto the bed of leaves. “Whoa-wh-augh?!”

The leader jeered, “Serves ya right! Let’s see who you are…” He stomped over to the leaves and rummaged around, tossing aside the sword as it dangerously hit another tree. “Whoa! You’re a pipsqueak!”

“D-d-d-do not poke fun at a ninja’s height like this!”

Yuuta gasped. That voice. He’d said “pipsqueak?” Could it be? The voice itself invoked images of the past. Yuuta took a step forward. And another. And another.

The leader turned around, holding up a bedraggled, thin shape that hung from his ironclad grasp. “Lookie here at this kiddo! What do we do with him?”

“Please don’t kill me…” moaned the shape. It was still covered with leaves, and the leader hadn’t been courteous enough to at least remove the debris. “Please don’t eat me… Please don’t put me next to a cat…”

Yuuta continued taking steps as if he were in a haze, though his mind was clear. “Who… who are you?” Emotions swirled through his mind, rejecting the possibility but accepting it as well. What did he hope for? What did he know was the truth? Though the steps he took were only seconds apart, to him it felt like a lifetime- no, he would never know what a true lifetime was. Despite that, it felt as if years passed with every second.

“Hmm?” Sadly, the shape brushed off leaves from a dark head, revealing to have dark purple hair, streaked with yellow at its edges. “Yes…?” The shape looked into Yuuta’s eyes. Yellow lightning seemed to spark from one bright eye, the other obscured by unkempt bangs swept to one side, and Yuuta stared in disbelief. “Is it really you…” Tears trickled down Yuuta’s cheeks, though he couldn’t stop them, and his heart beat almost as if it were about to burst. “...Shinobu-kun?”

Yuuta’s knees buckled, and he fell backward, sinking into unconsciousness.

\--

Hinata lazily swung his legs back and forth on the roof of the building. He’d been sitting there for hours, waiting for something to pique his interest. He cast his gaze down and by chance managed to find a familiar head that looked like something to poke fun about.

Hinata jumped off the roof, landing quietly on two feet, much to the surprise of passersby who had just seen some child in feminine clothing fall from three stories above. Ignoring calls of worry, Hinata shoved past the crowd and tapped on the back of a figure somewhat shorter than him. The figure was wearing a lilac outfit, designed with floral patterns, and turned around a bit slowly.

“Oh, Hinata-kun. Are you doing well?” An angelic voice, always pleasing to the ear, drifted out in greeting to Hinata. “What are you doing here?”

“Hajime-kun, you got anything exciting for me to do? Like any requests to assassinate anyone or something?”

Hajime recoiled, a look of terror in his lavender eyes. “Wh-wh-what!? Assassinate? Who’s being killed? Do they need help?” He clutched at Hinata’s shoulders. “Please! Don’t go down that path! You’re still able to have guidance!”

“Hajime, stop that… Hinata was just kidding,” spoke up an exasperated voice from behind both of them. “Hinata, you know you’re better off not teasing Hajime like that.”

Hinata snickered. “Aw, Tomo-kun, you know me so well!” He turned around to see a rather nondescript face that was crinkled from distaste. With brown eyes and hair the shade of milk tea, Tomoya was used to these antics from Hinata, though they’d known each other for only a few years. Despite those years having been already a fraction of the others’ lives, Hinata saw those years to be almost inconsequential. Not like it bothered him that much.

“Yeah, I’d rather I didn’t know you at all,” huffed Tomoya, but his smile said otherwise. “Have you met Mitsuru yet?”

A boy, following somewhat behind them, immediately rushed up to Hinata with the energy of a thousand rabbits. His eyes were wide and friendly, with brown hair the color of chocolate that was springy and bouncy. “Hey! You’re Hinata-chan? Let’s get along!” The bright color of his outfit invoked a bunny, with ears flopping off his hood as well.

“Looks like I can use you if I wanna run somewhere!” Hinata yelled in agreement, and the two energetically shook hands. “By the way, Tomo-kun.” His voice took on a deep, serious note. “Why are you wearing a maid outfit?”

Tomoya groaned, and Hajime patted his head as if to support his friend. “Don’t ask me, okay?! I’m tired of being forced into these clothes, but I apparently had to do this for ‘work?’ What kind of cruel joke is this!?” He began to mumble about the unfairness he had to go through. “That sick pervert thought it’d be funny for me to learn about utilizing the power of persuasive dress in the plays I earned money part-time at, but no! I really don’t want that! Why can’t he just-” Tomoya began to sob.

Hajime gave an apologetic smile. “Sorry about this, Hinata-kun. Tomoya-kun doesn’t quite like this kind of thing, but it seems to be necessary. Also, he looks cute in this, right?”

“Yeah, cute, I guess, but your makeup’s really sloppy. I give that a six out of ten.” Hinata judged bluntly, a look on his face as if it were a matter of life and death.

Tomoya slapped his hand to his face. “Whatever. What’d you come here to do, besides making fun of me, scaring Hajime halfway out of his wits, and making Mitsuru your lifelong follower? I assume you have something to do?”

“Hmm. I actually don’t have anything to do. I have something I want to do, which is to have something to want to do. Get it?” Hinata looked over at Mitsuru, whose eyes were wide and very clearly meant: “I don’t get it.”

Always a reliable one, Hajime plucked a few leaflets off the bulletin board next to them. “Look, there are some things to do right here! Sign up for the military… capture the assassination band… They don’t seem very good for your health,” murmured Hajime with a worried look. “Oh?” His eyes brightened. “Have a duel with the undefeated tiger brawler? Could that be interesting?”

“What’s that?” Hinata snatched the pamphlet off Hajime’s hand, tossing away the ones with the military (AKATSUKI and a moon displayed on it) and the assassins (TS and a four star logo). He stared at the paper, worn from numerous people jabbing questioning fingers at it. “This looks promising.”

They all looked at the paper as it displayed a ferocious red, black, and white shape that was abstract yet pulsed with power. “Hmm. That’s pretty neat,” Tomoya noted. “It’s not that far away from here, either. Should we go together?”

Hinata had seen enough. It was time to leave. He handed the leaflet back to Hajime and waved them off. “I gotta go! Come if you want, but I’m leaving you behind~!” He took off excitedly, running in the direction specified in the pamphlet. “I got something to do now!” He hummed as he ran, but a figure keeping pace with him next to him brought back memories of a forest and great feelings of high tension.

“Ahaha! Dash, dash, yanno~?” Mitsuru was running alongside Hinata, pure adrenaline taken form.

The latter paused for a bit, allowing Mitsuru to overtake him, but he caught back up. “Whoa! Mitsuru-kun, you’re pretty good!” Hinata grinned. “How about we race?”

Mitsuru’s ears pricked up, and Hinata could have sworn that the bunny hood pricked its ears up as well. “A race… Well, Hinata-chan! Let’s go!”

Together, the two of them dashed through the streets of the city to reach the area outside of the town where the tiger brawler was supposed to await challengers. Each passing second, Hinata could feel the wind brushing his hair, and he longed to run as his true self. But that would compromise his safety and those around him, so he enjoyed it as it was.

A good distance behind the both of them, Tomoya and Hajime were pacing somewhat slowly to the destination. “Darn those fast guys,” Tomoya muttered, trying to hike up the maid dress he had on.

Hajime giggled. “Tomoya-kun, don’t go too quickly or else you’ll trip. You wouldn’t want your dress to get ruined, right?” His soft expression was very well-mannered, and his eyes were gentle.

“No, I don’t want that! I don’t want anything to do with this dress at all…” moaned Tomoya.

Over at their destination, Mitsuru was jumping happy circles around Hinata. “Hinata-chan, that was fun!”

Hinata panted, hands on his knees. “Mitsuru-kun… you’re really fast… almost as if you were a wind spirit or something…?” He kept gasping for breath until noticing that Mitsuru really was quiet.

“How’d you know?” Mitsuru’s eyes widened, and Hinata took a gulp of breath before- “WHAT?”

Hinata stood up, feeling a much deeper friendship with Mitsuru after they ran the whole way. He was also a mythical creature? Hinata looked around to see if anyone was looking, then he leaned in to whisper into Mitsuru’s ear: “I’m a fox youkai.”

Mitsuru’s eyes expanded again. “Hinata-chan… How have you lived this long? Didn’t some of them die out a long time ago?” He wasn’t very bright, but he was still very empathic.

“I have a brother, and I’m surrounded by friends sometimes. It’s not that bad.”

“Hey, you two! Why’re you so eager to run away, Mitsuru?” chided Tomoya, who was now dragging along Hajime by the hand. It was an odd sight.

Mitsuru leapt over at Tomoya. “Hey, Tomo-chan! Guess what? Hinata-chan’s a fox youkai!” Okay, maybe he wasn’t very perceptive.

Hinata jumped after Mitsuru. “W-wh-what could you possibly be talking about, Mitsuru-kun!? Nothing fox-like here! Nothing at all-” He clamped his hands over Mitsuru’s babbling mouth. “Nothing! At! All!”

Hajime nodded, hair stuck up this way and that as he wheezed for breath, a stunning picture of elegance despite his tiredness. “It’s okay, Hinata-kun…” *wheeze* “We’re… not human as well…”

Tomoya, who’d very clearly heard what Mitsuru said, agreed. “I think you’ve already heard Mitsuru’s a wind spirit. It’s not too hard to figure that out when you see him.” The “him” in question was now currently jumping over breezes, manipulating the winds as he raced with himself in imagination. “Hajime’s a water spirit, and I’m earth. Our leader’s fire, but he’s not here right now because he’s got something to do.”

“O-oh, is that so…?” Hinata chuckled nervously. “I thought I was gone for… humans like to attack little ol’ me when they find out who I am.”

A bellowing of a man echoed from some unknown place, and the four of them swung their heads from side to side as they tried to figure out where the sound came from. Almost too late, Hajime looked up and saw a hulking figure of a man falling down upon them. They all evaded the huge projectile, and glancing up, they saw another shape, lithe and tiny in comparison, jump down. It landed feet-first onto the man, who roared in pain one more time before admitting defeat.

“Y-you’re the winner… You’re as strong as they say, Tiger.” A begrudging respect was now expressed to the tiger brawler, who nimbly leapt off the man. “I-I gotta say, where’d you get this strength?”

“Training.” A curt response, but Hinata could know that voice anywhere.

Hinata reached out to the fighter with a trembling hand; he was ignored as the fighter looked up where he had descended and yelled, “Who else wants an opponent!?”

Impressed murmurs came from the above area upon a bridge, where they hadn’t noticed situated an arena and fighting ground. The reason for the shape being indistinct was due to its constant presence in the shadow. Stepping out, however, the shape became real. Black hair, spiked and streaked with red, shot up from the brawler’s youthful face, and orange eyes blazed with a passion that burned for strength. His attire was worn from multiple battles but not unclean.

Hinata gazed at him in wonder. “Tetsu-kun? Is that you?”

The fighter’s stare was now directed at Hinata, his full attention undivided. “Did you just call me… ‘Tetsu-kun?’” He blinked slowly, as if trying to register something. “Who are you…?”

“It doesn’t matter,” sobbed Hinata. He felt his legs take him right in front of the boy who so resembled that one from centuries ago, and he wrapped his arms around him. Then, Hinata blacked out.

\--

At the same time these miraculous acts were happening, some less than savory actions were taking place in a city not too far away from either.

A corrupt bureaucrat was flaunting his money in a room only to himself, only to be silenced with a single strike of a sharply honed rapier. The figure which had easily dispatched of his enemy murmured a few words of apology, his dark blue eyes slit and on guard.

However, as the guards who were situated at the bureaucrat’s door piled in, three other shadowy figures quietly eliminated them.

A youthful face with bright blue eyes and a messy mop of orange hair was now concentrating, his metal fan slicing at the throats of their enemies. “And… done!” With nary a word save for a chirping of his completion of the task, he wiped the fan off with a cloth that was hanging in the room.

“Shh.” Glass glinting on another member’s face, his companion was quietly shushed. These eyes were green, though without the sparkling qualities of the previous member; instead, their luster had no emotion at all. A sash, translucent and with a heavenly pink hue, fixated itself around the throats of the guards and blended smoothly with his blond hair.

Their final member removed the ropes he wore on his torso. The bell affixed to the ropes jangled as he completed his tasks, cat-like sharp eyes darting this way and that to reaffirm their secrecy. With the strangling of the last guard, the red-haired member tied the ropes back onto his body. “It’s done.”

The first member, cool and precise, had secured an entry route. “Akehoshi. Yuuki. Isara. We’re going.” He beckoned to the rest of them.

“Yeah, Hokke~.” The one with orange hair called out, in a quieter tone than one would expect. “Wait a second.” He removed a calling card from deep inside his kimono, and he dropped it onto the bureaucrat’s rapidly cooling body. “Okay, let’s go.”

With four stars situated in a diamond, they swirled around two letters, written expressively: TS.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't know how to write things lol


	3. probing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> using unnatural powers, a member of the Knights is able to piece together the relationship between the two, who have collapsed. meanwhile, tetora has met up with members of ra*bits and hinata, though he doesn't know much about anything. after the assassination, some government members take it upon themselves to put down the insurrection by hand.

“What should we do with this kid?” Izumi grumbled, jabbing a thumb toward Yuuta, still laying on the ground passed out. It didn’t seem as if he were going to wake up any time soon, and the ninja who had been fished out of the leaf pile was still a mental mess.

The small ninja wailed, “Wahh! Yours truly shall sacrifice his life! I meant no harm and apologize from the depths of my heart, though this may not be enough!” He got into a praying position in front of the collapsed boy. He began lowering his head to the ground. “I beg you!”

But the collapsed boy’s expression was actually blissful, almost as if he had seen something that he had wanted for a long time. In fact, as soon as he saw the ninja’s eyes, a wide smile had spread across his face… and then he fainted. Not exactly a good way to greet another person.

“Hey, Rittsu!” Their leader, still outlined against the woods he had cut down, beckoned over the still-sleepy member of Knights. As Ritsu took a few lazy steps toward their leader, the latter decided that he was too slow and rushed over to Ritsu. “Lemme tell you something… I got a feeling that these two might know each other? Do your magic or whatever and tell us what you got!” He slapped Ritsu’s back. “Countin’ on you!”

Ritsu rubbed the area where their king had hit him, wincing out of pain. “Yeah, I don’t know how someone like you could’ve gotten that impression…” He gazed over at the two. “But I agree.”

Tsukasa stepped over, his former dignity reclaimed. Gone was the novice who lost his nerve over calling a young man a “woman.” He asked politely, “If I may, Ritsu-senpai, how does this power of yours work?” He’d heard tell of it many times before, but the special circumstances that consisted of the power were yet unknown.

Ritsu tilted his head to the side, wondering if he should even consider talking about it. He decided, “I put you to sleep. I probe your memories and whatever might’ve come before that. Simple enough for you?”

Although clearly struggling to ask more, Tsukasa suddenly felt a force that clammed shut his mouth, turning back towards the leader in protest. “Mmrghfgh?!”

“Suo~, you’re gonna piss off Rittsu that way! Else he’s not gonna do it for us!” Their king scolded their youngest member, and on the side, Arashi and Izumi watched in amusement, as it was some kind of everyday routine.

Ritsu mumbled, “I’m gonna do it now, so shut up…” He walked slowly over to the ninja, and clearly the boy called “Shinobu” could feel his presence. He turned around quickly, but it was much too late to defend himself. Ritsu’s aura had engulfed the boy out of his own power, and he fell backward, peacefully asleep almost like the boy right next to him.

“All~ right~,” cheered Ritsu, but his cheer was almost monotonous and he placed a stern expression back on his face. “Here we go…” He closed his eyes.

_ This is a pretty embarrassing kid. He’s shy and tiny too. Weird. _

_ Memories of the ninja’s childhood flooded into Ritsu’s mind, and he couldn’t help but stifle a laugh when looking at the boy’s many slipups. _

_ Wait, he knows Maa-kun? Looks up to him as some passing traveler who visited his village once…? He probably doesn’t know what their group is up to these days…  _

_ Ritsu probed further, finding some faces that he even knew. But for the most part, this boy was usually alone. _

_ Pretty sad. Reminds me of how I used to be before- Nngh! _

_ He bumped something. _

_ “What are you doing here?” A figure took shape in front of Ritsu, small just as if he were that boy whom he’d hypnotized, with the only distinguishable feature his glimmering yellow eyes, which he actually had two of. But that should have been impossible… None were ever able to manifest themselves while asleep…Unless… _

_ Ritsu chuckled. “I see how it is. I can’t believe it’s taken you this long to come back. Were you banned to the depths of hell or something? Wait, you’re a hero. No way you could’ve ever been damned by anything.” _

_ The shape blinked. “One must not underestimate the strength of those we had been attacked by. Yours truly has been trapped within those dark walls for centuries, despite multiple attempts to break out. For some reason, they were weakened some fifteen years ago, allowing him-” The ninja who was currently unconscious. “-To be born, taking the shape of myself. How pitiful… Quite a fate he has played out for him.” _

_ Ritsu tilted his head. “So? Anyone else?” He’d heard of two fallen heroes in that forest from his brother before leaving. Who was the other one? _

_ “Rest assured. Tetora-kun has come again. Some day, we of Ryuseitai shall reunite.” The shadow pumped his fist excitedly. “Midori-kun and Taichou-dono have already met up with Shinkai-dono, whose soul has not been felt for some time. Is he, perhaps, immortal?” _

_ Ritsu yawned despite not actually being tired. “Hey… So, what do you want me to do?” _

_ The shadow hovered for a bit, flitting this way and that as if he himself had no idea what to do. He finally nodded. “Leave them alone. It is best for time to take its course.” _

_ “Yeah, okay. So, you gonna let me past here, or what?” Ritsu pointed beyond the shadow, where a gaping emptiness opened up and he could catch glimpses of an orange fox. _

_ The shadow hesitated. “N-no. These are the memories of a previous life. Those of yours truly. Please do not enter.” He seemed to be embarrassed. _

_ “Huh,” Ritsu hummed knowingly. “Okay, then… Looks like I’m off.” He actually wanted to go further, but it could take too long and he didn’t need any more time in this world. Nothing else would stop him, but Ritsu turned heel and strolled out, much faster than he had when he had entered. The ninja really must’ve wanted him out. _

“Rittsu, how was it!?” Their leader shoved his face into Ritsu’s. His hair was still littered with leaves, and some more nicks had gotten on his clothes.

Izumi pulled their king away, cuts on his boots as well. They must have been sparring while waiting for their source of information to regain consciousness. “Hey, Ou-sama. Shut up. The sun’s going down, too. What’ll we do…?” Despite his picky attitude, or maybe because of it, their vice-leader was very particular about these kinds of things.

Arashi prodded both of the unconscious boys’ cheeks. “It doesn’t seem as if they’re going to wake up soon…? Should we go inside, drop them off, and leave? Or should we stay? Big sis doesn’t know what to do~? Tsukasa-chan, how about you?”

“I believe that protection of those who are unable to care for themselves is of priority.” Tsukasa’s voice was firm. “We must stand vigil over these helpless civilians to fulfill our duty as the Knights!”

“They’re hardly just civilians, though…” muttered Ritsu. Heads swung toward him (“Got ‘em!” Leo crowed), and holding a hand up he beckoned to them to stand up and move to an area where neither of them could hear if they woke up.

When the five Knights were assembled in a circle near some temple building, Ritsu felt wide awake due to the sun going down. He stretched and launched into a quick version of what he had figured out during his stroll through the ninja’s memories. “That tiny one was one of those members of Ryuseitai who died on an escort mission to transport those fox twins to UNDEAD. Remember that story?”

“That was but a child’s tale…?” Tsukasa put his hand to his chin in thought. “Does this mean that story was true?”

Izumi waggled a hand in front of Tsukasa’s eyes to bring his gaze back up. “Lookie here, Kasa-kun! This is what’s going on! It was all real in the first place! So? Why’d that little one come back?”

Ritsu rolled his eyes. “Not like I know. But hey, there was an orange fox in that ninja kid’s memories. That other kid might just be…” He looked at the lavender-clad boy. Rather… “Nah, he might be a few centuries old, so I shouldn’t be calling him a kid.”

“Centuries? And that other one comes back to meet with him somehow? Isn’t this exciting!” Arashi cooed. “For the time being, let’s just drag them inside… See if they remember anything, hm?”

Their leader kicked a tree stump. “All in favor of sticking with these two till they get conscious again?”

“No problem.”

“Nothing wrong.”

“It is the duty of a knight!”

“Sounds lovely!”

“Alright! Let’s crash here tonight!”

\--

“I can’t believe you’re actually the tiger brawler…” Tomoya was still in disbelief at the fame his old friend had gotten. “You do still remember us, right?”

Tetora, with Hinata unconsciously clinging, didn’t even seem to notice the baggage hanging off of him. “Yeah, totally! But… I don’t think I’ve seen that guy over there?”

Mitsuru was hopping over tree branches in the distance, and none of them thought to consider bringing him back over to their current position. As the wind blew, however, jeers from the bridge above them called back Tetora’s attention.

“Hey! Lookin’ to have a go with that lil’ girl?” “Whoo! Nice job, Tiger!”

It was at that point where Tetora actually took note of Hinata. “Huh? Whoa! Since when was she here?”

“That’s a guy. Hinata’s a guy.”

Tetora stared at Tomoya. “You’re kidding me, right? Also, why’re you two wearing dresses? Why’s he over there wearing a skirt?” He pointed first to Hajime, then Tomoya, then Mitsuru.

“I’m- I’m going to-” Tomoya sputtered in indignation, then he stomped off to drop himself over into the grasses. “Hajime, just… Can you tell him what’s happening?”

Hajime nodded uncertainly, not really getting the flow of things. He wanted to clear something up first. “Shouldn’t you be answering those people up there? They seem very excited to see what you’ll do next…”

“Huh? Oh, yeah.” Tetora called up to the fans, “Sorry, rest of the matches are done! Got a few friends to talk to! Bye!” After some persuasion and grumbling, the crowd dispersed, leaving a few stragglers. Tetora sat down on a wooden bench, gingerly placing the now-snoozing Hinata next to him, and he patted for Hajime to sit down on his other side. “So?”

Hajime took the invitation and smoothed his outfit before sitting down. Taking glances at Mitsuru, still jumping around, and Tomoya, now dejectedly plucking clovers off the ground, Hajime decided that they were safe. “Yes, well… I don’t believe you’ve met Hinata-kun before, but he did arrive sometimes when I was working in my part-time job. For some reason, he did seem to know you, calling you…?”

“‘Tetsu-kun,’” Tetora clarified. “I dunno why, but that kind of feels really natural to me, like I was called that as a kid… No one ever called me that when I was younger, though?”

“Yes… I don’t remember that ever happening. Only some time previously, we had met in the city just over there.” Hajime pointed at the town’s storied buildings. “We knew Hinata-kun beforehand, but Mitsuru-kun only took some time to get used to him. After getting them to know each other, we decided to pique Hinata-kun’s interest by checking the pamphlets on the bulletin board. We found the one which advertised your battles… Hinata-kun and Mitsuru-kun raced here,” Hajime laughed gently. “Who would have thought that you were the brawler?”

Tetora looked aside, tiger ears on his head pricking up in bashfulness. “Aw… I didn’t really do much. I kinda looked up to a guy in the military, and after he told me to train I got through a lotta training and… I ended up here. Some reason, the people really like it when I beat up guys ten times my size.”

“Well, then! How about you spar with me? I’m pretty sure I’m just around your size, anyways!” Hinata cheerfully interrupted the chat, his energy a complete 180 from that sleeping form just a few minutes ago. He was now lazily lounging with torso over the bench, and if he had a tail like the fox youkai he said he was, he could have been swinging his tail back and forth.

Tetora lowered his head to look into Hinata’s eyes. “Who are you? Why do you call me ‘Tetsu-kun?’”

Hinata looked forward, away from Tetora’s piercing gaze. “You don’t need to know that just yet. Anyways, let’s fight! That’s what I came here for in the first place!” He got up and stretched, happily telling Tetora to “bring it” with a wave of his hand.

“Huh, if you really want to surrender that badly!” Tetora got up as well, grinning as he let go of his unease. Of course Hinata really didn’t know Tetora. Maybe he mistook him for someone else? That had to be it!

Hajime sat in worry for his friends and agonized over which one he wanted to cheer for. Tetora was close from a long time ago. Hinata seemed to be familiar despite coming from almost nowhere. He kind of gave off that air of knowing more than he should.

“So, they’re finally going at it?” Tomoya noted, taking the spot where Tetora used to be. He had somehow managed to convince Mitsuru to come over, and the three of them sat down on the bench. “Who do you think’s going to win?”

“Me!” Tetora yelled, his back to the three.

“No, me!” Hinata objected, pointing a finger at Tetora. “You’re not getting out of here with just an ‘ouch,’ Tetsu-kun!”

“You called me that again! Why?”

“I’m not telling~,” sang Hinata. He punched the air, and somehow they could feel the breeze rippling past. “Not unless you beat me! And even then, I might not tell you!”

“Grr…” Tetora’s tail slapped the ground in frustration. “Hey! Count us off!”

“U-uh, okay! Three…”

“Two!”

“One!”

With a leap, Tetora began to reach out with his fist, meaning to take a preemptive first strike. His opponent, however, was definitely prepared for that. Hinata dodged the attack, grabbing the hand that Tetora was punching with and swinging Tetora over his shoulder with the momentum built up.

Tetora’s back slammed the ground, and as he was brought to land, a small crater opened up where he had hit the dirt. Tomoya and Hajime got up in alarm for Tetora’s safety, but Hinata deftly swung himself over to sit on Tetora’s exposed stomach. “Nothing to see here,” hummed Hinata. He crossed his legs and sat like a blushing maiden atop Tetora, who was still trying to process what had just happened and was none the worse for wear.

“H-huh? What?” Tetora’s eyes spun, and Mitsuru was the first one to get over there and pat his face in consolation. “You lost, Tetora-chan.”

“My win.” Hinata got up, a look of brief disappointment in his eyes. “Guess it’s been a while… You still need time to get even stronger, huh? Or was it because Ryuseitai was with you so long ago?”

Mitsuru was pulled back by Tomoya and Hajime, who stood next to Tetora as Hinata forlornly thought about some times long past.

“Ryusei...what? That legendary group of heroes?” Tetora struggled up, orange eyes swirling with confusion. “What do they have to do with me? I was with them? What’re you even talking ab-”

Hinata gazed into the distance. “Nothing. Forget I said anything.”

\--

The news had come out. Another incident of murders caused by the assassination group was unnerving the higher-ups. Sitting at a desk spilling over with papers, a man with dark green hair stared at the headline. “TS Claims Another Victim!” Or was their target really a victim? The bureaucrat had been a cruel man who manipulated the people under his control to do his bidding with absolutely no compensation. The man was the one disturbing the peace.

TS, though only initials of some other full name, had been rising in popularity amongst the poorer groups. Their influence was seen clearly, but many of the higher class clamored for their capture.

Akatsuki, captains of the royal guard and protectors of the government, were meant to put down those rebellious dangers. A job was a job, after all. But try as they might, TS just could not be captured. Even if one was caught, the others would immediately bring them out of the trouble. The rumor that, despite being a group of killers, TS was close to each other was a sound theory.

The man rubbed his head, glasses glinting in front of his yellow eyes. As he thought up a strategy to subdue TS, a high-ranked member of Akatsuki barged in the room. The member, a samurai of a prestigious family, announced his arrival with a bang. Indigo hair tied up in an immaculate ponytail and sharp violet eyes clearly marked a person of high dignity. Behind him, a man of large build, flaming red hair, and tough eyes wearily followed.

“Hasumi-dono!” The former unsheathed his sword with a sparkle in his eyes. “Shall we depart to capture the revolters immediately?”

“Hasumi, the public’s gettin’ mighty pissed about this.” The red-haired man folded his arms impressively. “We gotta make some results before stuff really bad happens.”

The man named Hasumi pushed up his glasses and sighed, brushing aside the papers on his desk. “Akatsuki shall depart. Kanzaki, Kiryuu. Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm puttin this on hiatus for a while because i'm stupid and i have to keep some ideas in my head Okay


	4. meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tetora picks yet another fight with hinata, but it's stopped. four faces make their appearance; far away but taking place at the same time, shinobu finds himself still "trapped" in the temple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sup i'm back with a fresh piping serving of "this is going nowhere" but at least now we have a reason as to what the blob was created by...

The buildings jutted up on the horizon, and bustling streets pushed the boys this way and that. They shoved into each other, though none of them were especially bothered by it. Hajime kept mumbling as he was close to tears “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” as he bumped into civilians, but Tomoya tried to reassure him that he was doing nothing wrong. Mitsuru slipped through the people like an eel, and instead of being irked by the people, he was incredibly excited to have “obstacles.”

Tetora shoved through the people, still bothered by his spar with Hinata. How did he know the very starting move he was going to take? How did Hinata know him in the first place? He frowned, and in an orange blur the subject appeared.

“What’s up, Tetsu-kun? Why the long face?” Hinata’s bright green eyes sparkled, and Tetora couldn’t shake the feeling that those eyes hid some past. Dark, shadowed, and heartbreaking…? But it quickly dissipated, and Hinata laughed. “You’re really too serious. What’s up with that? Still upset I beat you?”

Tetora stopped his feet, questions in his head ceasing as well. He barked, “No way! I accept fair and square that I lost! But I’m gonna have rematch with you one day!”

“Hmm? I don’t think you’ll ever be able to beat me…?” Hinata stuck out his tongue, holding his gaze with Tetora.

Anyone who stumbled upon them at that point would be able to feel the lightning shooting from their eyes. Each of their anticipation at fighting the other was at the absolute highest. Indeed, the passerby were very keen of this tension and gave them a wide berth. The area around them as a result became charged with equal energy and emotion; without people to separate them, the two boys stood there in silence as people began to stop and watch. They all whispered to each other their confusion: What were these two doing? “I don’t know, but it looks pretty serious!” “You think they’re gonna fight?” “That little girl against that little boy? Don’t make me laugh!”

The two were in their own zone at this point. Tetora felt shaken up but couldn’t take his eyes off Hinata’s smug face. He wondered why this feeling of rivalry was so intense. Why did he want to really bash it out with someone he knew just less than an hour ago?

Hinata didn’t think he could feel this way again. Hundreds of years ago, he’d sparred daily with the energetic member of Ryuseitai, but they always reached a draw before either of them got hurt. He scoffed, “You still have a long way to go before you can even consider fighting me!”

The crowd ooh’d and ahh’d.

“Yeah? Well, looks like you better prepare to get beat soon!”

Ooh.

“Beat when? The only beating I’ll see is me beating you!”

Ahh.

“You two, stop fighting!” Tomoya rushed into the static-charged circle that they had created, and the crowd stared at this newcomer. “We’re getting slowed down by one thing after another, so stop this. It’s getting kind of annoying!”

A large man, muscled and likely a street fighter, placed a hand on Tomoya’s shoulder. “Girl, I don’t know your relationship to these two, but you better clear off. They’re lookin’ dangerous.”

“T-Tomoya-kun, wait, please…!” Hajime stumbled into the empty space that the crowd had cleared up. “Have you seen Mitsuru-kun…? Oh, hello?” He glanced around at his surroundings. “Um… Is this a bad time? Should I come back later?” He backed off into the crowd again, but Mitsuru launched him away from the crowd.

“Hajime-chan! Look! Some guy has his hand on Tomo-chan!”

Hajime looked to his immediate left at Tomoya, whose face was down and shadowed. “Oh, Mitsuru-kun, you’re right. Hm? What’s this? Tomoya-kun, are you all-”

“I’m not all right. Let’s go.” Face still down, Tomoya shook off the hand and marched forward stiffly. “Hinata. Tetora. We’re going.”

Hinata sang, “All right, Tomo-kun! Let’s go~!” He jauntily sprang off in the direction they were headed in the general path of, and Tetora followed suit so as not to lose to his (new?) rival.

The crowd began to disperse for the group of five, now very stuck together as insisted. None of them wanted to lose the others any more. Hajime placed a hand on Tomoya’s shoulder, so different from the burly man’s. “U-um, Tomoya-kun… Is that dress… bothering you?”

“Yes.” A curt reply. Then he stopped. “That masked pervert is always making me do stuff like this! When I enrolled in the theater I’d thought I could be some prestigious actor! No! I have to wear dresses?! Ever since Hokuto-senpai left with his friends, I couldn’t be protected in the slightest from that guy’s relentless attacks!” Tomoya crumpled to the ground, beating the cobblestones with his fist, much to the confusion of the passing civilians. “Waaah! Hokuto-senpai, where are you?”

“Tomoya, don’t do that. It’s drawing unnecessary attention to you.” A deep voice, serious and cold, came from somewhere near them.

Tomoya sniffed, head still lowered. “Sometimes I can still hear his voice.”

“Tomoya, are you really okay?”

“H-H-Hokuto-senpai, I don’t know if you’re part of my imagination or what, but I’m so stressed every day from the masked pervert! Help me!”

“I see. I’ll take that into account and tell him not to bully you any further.”

“R-really? Even in my daydreams, Hokuto-senpai’s so nice to me!”

“Your daydreams?”

An excited cheer came from Hajime, who rushed toward the general direction that Hokuto’s voice had been coming from. “Ah, Akehoshi-senpai! How have you been?”

“Hey, Hokuto-senpai! How’ve you been doing? Comedy acts or something? Nishishi!” Hinata greeted the previously disembodied voice, whose owner seemed to tense up: “Urgh.”

“H-huh?” Tomoya raised his head, saw something he’d been looking for months, and began to cry.

Jet-black hair with a tint of royal blue and dark blue eyes belonged to a gallant-looking young man dressed in a red outfit that seemed to oppose, but didn’t clash with, his cool air. Beside him, Hajime was hugging his companion, who had on a voluminous orange and red kimono that looked as warm as his expression, excitedly squeezing the life out of Hajime as well. Somewhat behind both of them, two others who seemed around the same age looked on with interested expressions. One had vibrant blond hair and blue glasses, wearing an outfit of red and orange, assorted with fabrics dotted with traditional designs. The other was wearing a complete decked out costume, layered with orange, blue, and white. His red hair was clipped up loosely, and a bell that hung on the ropes wrapped on his outfit jangled cheerfully.

“Shinonon, it’s been a while~!” The orange haired boy was engulfing the small boy in his huge clothing, and it looked almost as if that “Akehoshi-senpai” were really hugging nothing. “How’ve you been?”

Hajime giggled. “Thank you for the greeting, Akehoshi-senpai. I’m doing well.”

“Subaru, don’t you think you’re going to take away that kid’s air?” The red haired one cautioned his friend from hugging Hajime any tighter.

Hokuto began to tug back Subaru from Hajime, who reluctantly let go. He reprimanded his close friend, “You’re letting your upbringing show. You haven’t even introduced yourself to the others yet.” Hokuto turned to the five. “I’m Hidaka Hokuto. Nice to meet you.”

“I-I’m Yuuki Makoto,” The blond one hurriedly chirped. He seemed very anxious, or was that his usual disposition?

The orange haired boy greeted, “I’m Akehoshi Subaru! Can you lend me some money?” He reached out eagerly to accept Hajime’s offer of coins as an answer to his question, but the redhead smacked down Subaru’s hand and gave him a withering look.

“Subaru, you know… Oh, I’m Isara Mao.” So he and Hokuto acted as the caretakers of the group, it seemed.

“Ah.” Hinata spun once, then he launched himself toward the boys. “Whoo-hoo! Trickstar’s here!” Hokuto caught him stiffly and put him down robotically. “Don’t do that, you twin. I still have nightmares.”

Trickstar? Twin?

Tetora looked over at Hinata, now stretching and dusting himself off. “You have a twin?”

“Yup. Though I haven’t seen him for a while. More importantly, we gotta introduce ourselves… But some of us already know each other.”

They gave some quick self-introductions, and the only breaking of the chain of introductions was Subaru jokingly imitating Mitsuru’s speech quirk. “What’s up, yanno?”

“So… how do you know Hokuto-senpai?” Tomoya asked of Hinata, who curled his lips in a smug smile.

Hinata sidled up to Hokuto, who seemed used to Hinata’s presence but was clearly annoyed by the closeness they apparently had. “See, a long time ago… Hokuto-senpai had to make himself stronger. So he came to us; rather, UNDEAD, to ask for help. Wait, scratch that. He had help from me and my brother. Um, you… Glasses bro?” He glanced over at Makoto, a mischievous smile forming. “You had help from Oogami-senpai, right?”

Makoto’s face went pale. “N-no… Not that… Please don’t bring that up…”

“Hm? What in the world is ‘Trickstar?’” With their new additions to the group, the five younger-looking ones were preparing questions. Hajime’s soft voice followed up to Tomoya’s question.

Subaru grasped Hajime’s hands. “Shinonon, I’m glad you asked. We of Trickstar are the shining bright stars, sparkling in the night sk-”

“Akehoshi. That’s too grandiose. We just got together somehow and began traveling. If you compare us to stars, that’s connected to Ryuseitai as well, isn’t it? Don’t mix us, some vagabond group, to that band of heroes.” Hokuto glanced over at Hinata somewhat sympathetically, and both their gazes swept over to Tetora, who didn’t notice. It was a wordless conversation between those two only.

Subaru paced around, having let go of Hajime, now deep in thought. “Huh, speaking of Ryuseitai… Where’s Chi-chan-senpai…? You guys know…? Probably not…” Whoever this Chi-chan-senpai was, no one seemed to know, save for Mao, who looked as if he wanted to talk to Subaru but decided against it.

Mitsuru’s question was up next, his eyes wide open curiously. “Hey, why’re you here? Didn’t you say you were just wandering, yanno?”

“Hmm… That’s pretty hard to answer. It was kind of a gut feeling, I guess?” Makoto placed his hand to his chin, looking off into the crowd. “Honestly, I really don’t know why either. It just happened.”

“No, Yuuki. I told you that we came here for a job. But we declined it, seeing as how the offer would have put others in danger. Do you not remember?” Hokuto sighed.

“O-oh, now I do… See, my memories have been kind of hazy ever since we left off from that other town…” Makoto bashfully shrugged. “Sometimes I need a reminder. Thanks for the refresher, Hidaka-kun.”

Tetora burst in with the questions of his own: “What job did you have? And what other town did you go to?”

Mao rolled his eyes. “The thing is, it was some real dirty work. Capturing those assassins? It’s not how we go with our jobs. We were in the town some few distances away, where the government’s reach isn’t strong.”

“A-assassins? You mean, TS? How frightening!” Hajime turned to Trickstar. “I can’t believe someone would attempt to have you capture those people…” His lavender eyes spilled over with warmth and concern, and he seemed on the verge of tears.

“Wh-whoa! Shinonon, don’t worry! We refused them, anyway! It’s not like TS really targets civilians like us. Even if we were to attack them, they’d completely bypass us for those government officials. They’re the ones who’re being attacked anyways,” Subaru consoled the weeping boy.

Hinata broke in with his question, innocent grin on his face. “Hey, why don’t you guys come along with us? With us fragile five-” (“I’m not fragile, though!” protested Tetora.) “-you big bros should definitely protect us! That’s my question to you, hehe.”

“That definitely sounded like a command more than anything…” Makoto looked at Hinata with some kind of reverence. “How admirable!”

Hokuto turned away, an expression of pure terror on his face. “This sounds like an excuse for you to torment me even further. Let’s just go. We’re leaving-”

“Whoa, so you’re a fox youkai? That’s so cool!” Subaru’s voice came from the direction behind Hokuto.

“Shh! Not too loudly! There are still people here…” They’d ditched him.

Hokuto lamented his fate and turned back to follow them.

\--

There was a cool sensation of water on his face, not unlike that of many years ago. He’d been on a patrol… when? The time didn’t matter.

He was running through the forest, raindrops pounding his face as the sky turned ever darker. The sun was swallowed up by the clouds, gray and dim, He would have to hurry back to his base of operations before it got too badly.

He clung to an old tree as he searched for a good landing position on the ground when a flash of movement outside the corner of his eye caught his attention. It was bright, a welcome sight to see in the drab forest, but what was it doing there?

The shape trembled again, and he decided to see for himself what it was. He leapt from branch to branch, determined to rescue it if it needed help. He reached the shape, an orange shivering bundle of fur in the middle of a tree hollow. He wondered what was wrong with it, and as if on cue, the shape moved its leg to reveal a gash that oozed blood.

Was it an animal? A fox, wasn’t it? It whined in pain.

He reached out gingerly…

And woke up touching a youthful face. The face was framed by orange hair parted halfway, and sharp green eyes glittered like a lost memory.

Shinobu blinked, staring up into those emerald eyes. Why did they look so familiar? He tried to get a sense of his bearings, looking around the sun-filled room, before he noticed, much to his embarrassment, that he was still caressing the face. He immediately drew back his hand and leapt backwards out of the bed he had somehow been put in. “A-apologies! Yours truly shall now retreat!” Shinobu felt his face flush up, and he turned back without looking again at the eyes, preparing to jump out the window two stories up…

“No, Shinobu-kun. Don’t! I mean… You just woke up, so stay a bit more.” The voice behind him was calm, but somehow it concealed a burning energy. How did it know his name, anyway? “This is for your own sake…”

“N-n-n-no, this ninja has already intruded on you for much too long! Farewell-”

“Awright, that kid’s woken up! Now time to interrogate him… Hehe…” Another voice came from further behind, but its volume and wild undertone made up for the distance. “Hey, what’re you doing? Get away from that window!”

Shinobu shook his head, refusing to heed their commands, feeling overwhelmed by the people as well as the requests being made of him. It was rather distressing. “Much gratitude for allowing this ninja to stay here, but yours truly has been too much of a bother!” He stared out of the window, preparing to jump into the trees that surrounded this building, but a freezing sensation compelled him to stop. Rather, it was as if he were being forced to stop, body standing stock still.

A third voice, probably having stayed silent this whole time, gloomily muttered next to Shinobu’s ear: “How do you know Maa-kun?” The owner of the voice gripped Shinobu’s shoulders, but not in complete malice. Despite this, Shinobu was beginning to get dizzy from all the attention being put on him.

“Eek!” He shook his head, and a fourth voice (more?!) hissed next to his other ear: “Kuma-kun, shut up. I wanna know how he knows Yuu-kun.”

“Huh? I didn’t tell you about this so that you could interrupt me when I’m doing my interrogation of this kid. Buzz off, Secchan.”

Two more voices were added to the mix: “Darn it, you two! Can’t we just talk to this child without either of you frightening him? I think he’s turning pale…” “There is no reason for this unnecessary squabble. Please, this is unfitting of Knights!” The voices began to squabble in rising volume.

The former voice was very much correct with Shinobu’s state of mind. He was indeed getting quite frightened. For an indoors ninja, this was getting quite stressful. He began to think extremely quickly, thoughts rushing through his mind.

Orange hair, green eyes. That was one. Five others whose faces he didn’t know. One of them could immobilize others. Who was this “Maa-kun” and “Yuu-kun”? Two different people? “U-um, excuse me…”

“What! You’re annoying, so shut up,” someone snapped next to his ear. “Oh, wait.”

The people gripping Shinobu’s arms and the owners of the rest of the voices put themselves into efficient action, without any further complaint. Had they been arguing over their plan of action instead of truly bickering over dumb things? Two hands shut the windows, his method of escape, closed. Someone closed the door, and without a clear light the room was plunged into a half-shaded enclosure. As some kind of final touch, Shinobu was pressed onto the ground, face-up, and a weight was dropped gently on his stomach.

“Interrogation time!” A voice cheered, and a smacking noise pounded on the ground dangerously close to Shinobu’s face. He couldn’t see anything, though. “Yo, pipsqueak! How about you tell us everything you know. Everything! Even if you can’t remember! Whahaha!”

Some light was let back into the room, and Shinobu blinked. He turned his head right to see a sheathed sword tapping next to his face, and as he yelped in fear, he traced the owner back up to a wild-looking ruffian whose dull orange hair was tied loosely to the side. Behind the rogue, three were standing: blond and tall, with a gallant navy-colored suit; gray-haired, wearing both a black and white outfit and a frown that marred his good features; and red-haired, stiffly standing as he tried not to laugh at this scene. What made it odd, though…?

Shinobu turned his head left, and what he saw almost made him faint. Smooth black hair and blood-red eyes looked into Shinobu’s own, and the collar wear was large and intimidating. But he looked extremely tired. “Hey… Why don’t you just spill what you know? We’re busy, you know…”

Where was that last person, with that bright orange hair and those sparkling green eyes? The weight shifted, and Shinobu’s eye(s) widened in shock and embarrassment as he saw the boy sitting on him, looking uncomfortable as he hugged his knees and not meeting Shinobu’s gaze.

“First things first, how about we do some self-introduction!” The blond one cheerily clapped to bring back some normalcy into this extremely comical scene. “I’m Narukami Arashi, but you can just call me Naruko-chan or your big sister!”

“I am Suou Tsukasa.” The red-haired one regained his straight posture, eyes darting around to look anywhere other than the comedy act unfolding in front of him. “Though I am inexperienced, I desire to battle with all my might.”

The gray-haired one sighed, obviously annoyed by the slowness of the group’s members. “Sena Izumi. Honestly, all this is really stupid, and we should really get to the decisions fast-”

“Sena! It’s okay! Because we’re gonna be getting down to business soon! I’m Tsukinaga Leo, the genius favored by God! Wahahaha!” The ruffian clapped his friend on the back, much to the latter’s chagrin, and he let out an amusing bellow that somehow threw caution to the wind.

“Sakuma… Ritsu…” The black-haired one murmured next to Shinobu’s ear. “Tell me what you’re thinking about Maa-kun and we see if you live or not.”

“Hey, Kuma-kun! Shut up! I’m gonna ask him about Yuu-kun first!” Izumi stomped over and began shaking Ritsu, whose head drooped as he mumbled, “Oh, I’m feeling sleepy… The sun’s out, so good night…”

As Ritsu fell asleep still being shaken by Izumi, Leo tapped Shinobu’s face with the sword and tapped his stomach as well. “Hey, you too!”

“Ah…” The orange-haired one slid off Shinobu’s stomach and apologized with an arm motion. “They made me get on you because it was supposed to be amusing. Sorry about that.” Green eyes. Forest? Emerald? They glimmered with the leaves of the woods. Why were there such nostalgic memories? “Where are my manners? I’m Aoi Yuuta.” There were some words he had bitten back, but later he admitted to himself that he’d wanted to add: “Though you might know it already.”

Shinobu, with Yuuta off his torso, sat up dizzily. “Hmm… This ninja’s name is… Sengoku Shinobu.” Then, looking down and thinking of Yuuta’s green eyes that seemed to prick at his memories, Shinobu felt tears drip down his face.

\--

A magician swirled a thick black liquid inside a cauldron, his yellow cat-like eyes slitted as he murmured words of incantations. He concentrated, staring at the tar-like substance.

“Master~!” “Natsume-kun!” Two very different voices interrupted his focus, and he grumbled in annoyance as a few books near the entrance to his room fell. He slowly stirred the substance with a spoon as two of his companions came up to him.

The second voice spoke first: “Natsume-kun. You may not believe this, but Ryuseitai, of years past, has now reunited.”

The first voice now: “Nah~, but they’re not together yet, Senpai? Did you know, did you know? Master!”

“YeS?”

“Master, the thing that made those two die in the forest that day… We found some again! It was really hard!”

“Natsume-kun… Shouldn’t you apologize somehow to them? Ryuseitai lost two very important warriors that day-”

“Shouldn’t you be apologizing for destroying my brotherS? Even though you don’t do sO, I think sO. NoW, Sora, drop the haze on my table and leavE. Senpai, you examine iT. We shall convene at some later timE. Now, where waS I…” The red-haired magician turned back to the cauldron, and two others with bright yellow hair and one with dark blue. “We of Switch are without alliancE. Never forget that we only observe and never interferE.”


	5. encounters and partings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a warrior joins knights as they depart from the temple and roam in search of civilization, and the predicament of a once-renowned hero group is brought to light. further information about TS, the infamous assassin group, is exposed, but the dangers of being tangled with them are life-threatening. doubtless an information broker would reach the news as well, and UNDEAD prepares to take action as only they can.

“We’re not doing ‘introduction time’ right now! We’re doing ‘interrogation time!’ Now tell us what you know, kid!” Leo cackled. “You know?”

Shinobu was muddled in his mind, so he was still staring at Yuuta. For some reason, Yuuta was staring back as well, not looking away. A gentle smile crinkled the edges of Yuuta’s face, and Shinobu couldn’t take his eyes off. “Hnuh?”

Arashi whispered excitedly to Tsukasa, inaudible to the others in their corner, “Is this what happens when someone who is reincarnates meets another who was once in his life? How exciting!”

Ever the diligently learning youngest member, Tsukasa nodded. “The Suou family lacks a known record of reincarnation. Once I return to my household, I shall make note of it.” The two of them moved closer, but they jumped back when Leo yelled again.

“Hey! We’re doing interrogation, not infatuation! Why’re you here, tiny?”

Izumi muttered under his breath, “You’re not that tall yourself, Ou-sama.”

“What did you say, Sena!? I’m gonna hit you!” Leo was less angry than annoyed at being interrupted. “Actually, lemme say something else, then! Make him talk!” Leo jabbed a finger at Shinobu, who was by now aware of his surroundings, wide eyes flitting back and forth between Leo and Izumi.

Yuuta was silent at this point, having gotten up to simply observe. As for Ritsu, he’d snatched the blanket of the bed and rolled up in it, comfortably sleeping on the floor. Arashi and Tsukasa moved next to each other, the two youngest members of Knights keeping an eye on both the one being interrogated as well as their sleeping member.

“W-what could you possibly be hinting at… Yours truly has no past to hide!” Shinobu frantically waved his hands, as if showing that he had no ill meaning.

Izumi leaned closer, having given up on asking about “Yuu-kun” for the time being. “I~diot,” he drawled, “What we want isn’t why you’re here. We want info on what you are and what you’re doing.”

“Nah, make him spill everything!” Leo tapped the ground with the sheath again, and Shinobu tensed up.

“B-but how? Yours truly approached this temple with the intent of searching out the elusive treasure rumored to be here… If able to locate this eternal treasure, a ninja would be allowed to escape- uh, leave the village!” Tears started to pool up in his yellow eyes. “If unable to return by the next day with the treasure, this ninja would be branded as dead and forgotten by the whole of the village…”

Leo whistled, unperturbed as to the fact that their prisoner was now crying from fear. “Ooh, so what’s that treasure? Kid, you know anything about it?” He directed these questions at Yuuta.

“Not at all. The only thing that’s lasted as long as this temple has been… maybe…”

“Maybe yourself?” Ritsu rolled over in the makeshift bed he had made, and though his eyes were still closed, a smirk was spreading across his face. “Maybe you’re the treasure, twin.”

“Wh-what did you call me? Don’t call me just a twin,” Yuuta grumbled. “There’s no way I could be a treasure, anyway. Everyone who comes already knows that I’m here.”

“Uh, then I guess not.” Ritsu rolled back over, making some more convincing snoozing noises.

Izumi looked just about ready to shake Ritsu awake, even taking a step towards him before Leo held him back. “Sena, what do you think we should do with them?” A seriousness rarely seen in his eyes was now present, glinting like times of ages past. He jerked his head towards Yuuta, standing left to ponder his presence, and Shinobu, tearing up still.

Izumi sighed. “I’m pretty sure that this treasure they’re talking about really is this Yuuta-kun. Some guys are going to be after him sooner or later, and he probably might not have enough power to fight them off. So? Should we escape?”

“As expected of Sena! Let’s knock out that kid, convince the fox to come with us, and drag ‘em along on our adventures! Maybe we’ll be able to meet that twin he was talking about?” Leo grinned, a wicked plot brewing in his mind. “I’m not only the Naked King but also a genius favored by the gods! I even got a place to go in mind. This plan’s foolproof!”

Some hours later, the idea was indeed proving itself to be without problem. Picking their way through the forest, the travelers and the fox were heading through the trees. The sun was high up in the sky, which gleamed brightly blue.

“I’m not really against this, but…” Yuuta gave a wry smile as he looked at the once-again unconscious ninja, who was being dragged on a blanket between Arashi and Izumi, who led the way. “He’s been sleeping a lot.”

“Wahaha! Sleeping makes a kid grow taller! This pipsqueak needs it, anyway!” Leo guffawed, ignoring the blank looks of his teammates, who were all clearly noticing the hypocrisy from the second shortest member of Knights. “We’re heading to the nearest city, so when we’ve dropped him in our pal’s place, we’re gonna get some answers.”

Tsukasa walked and watched as Shinobu’s body hit snags on the path, bumping his body up and down as he was dragged. “If I may be allowed to ask, to which person are we proceeding? One must be assured of the location in order to be fully prepared, yes?” His hand tightened in anticipation on the small cage that housed a black shape, which he was trying not to shake too hard.

“Uh. I gotta say, he does roam around a lot, but he usually does stay where he says he does. I wonder if he’s even gonna be there? Oh well, we’ll see when we get there!” Leo muttered to himself for a while, but the last statement happily threw caution to the wind.

Izumi groaned, “Ugh, you mean that guy? He’s so annoying!” In a lower voice, he added, “But his strength would be pretty useful someday…”

They reached a break in the endless trees. Leo kept walking faster to get in front of Izumi and Arashi, happily babbling about some “Mama,” before Arashi yelped, “Ou-sama! Watch out!”

“Huh?” His foot nearly dropped itself over empty air, as the forest had opened up to a sheer cliff. Leo tried to correct his footing, but he had put too much pressure into walking quickly, and he began to fall. “Whoops!” He dropped out of sight, and Tsukasa screamed, his face pale, “Leader!”

Yuuta stood, eyes wide at the suddenness of this happening. “W-what… Is he dead?”

A distant crashing noise sounded beneath them, and Arashi dropped a corner of the blanket to run to the edge of the cliff and grasp on the ground, looking down. “Ou-sama!” The voice that called out for their king was desperate.

Izumi wasn’t looking down. He tilted his face upwards, clutching even tighter to the baggage, covering his eyes with his gloved hand. “Tch.” A few sparkles glittered from down his face. Tears?

“He’s dead?” Tsukasa hollowly asked. He looked down at Arashi, whose expression while viewing the aftermath was unreadable. “Narukami-senpai… is he dead?”

Arashi quickly stood back up, turning back with a smile. “No. But he will be.”

“W-why?”

“Hahaha! Leo-san! I can’t believe you came flying down from the sky! Trying out a new method of killing guysss?” A cheerful voice, one invoking images of looseness and free-spiritedness, floated upwards.

“Ah! Mikejimama! We were just talking about you! Actually, I was talking about you, and Sena was talking about how you’re so annoying, you’re always meddling, you’re always comparing him to cats-” Leo’s equally rough voice came as a relief.

“Whaaaat! I can’t believe Izumi-san is so rude! Also, where is he?”

“Oh, up there! Hey, Mikejimama, lemme see if you can run straight up this cliff while holding me! With your strength, it’s totally possible!”

“Huh? Okayyy, readyyy… let’s go!”

Thudding sounds came from the cliff’s edge, and Arashi had just turned fully back around when a large shape launched itself up. Rather, it had likely run directly up the vertical cliff and was now in sight. “Wasshoi, wasshoi! How are you guys doing?!”

The shape was holding another, smaller shadow that whooped as they landed loudly on the cliff’s edge. “Whoo! That was amazing! Look, guys, I’m not dead!” Leo’s voice came from that latter shape, and the larger one set him down.

The larger shadow, now lit by the sun, came into full view. An extremely tall, athletic-looking man dressed in ruffian’s attire not unlike Leo’s clothes swung his torso around back and forth. A white sheet that was draped over his shoulders fluttered gently in the light breeze, and for some reason there was a heavy-looking naginata plunged into the ground. He happily jerked it back up, slinging it over his shoulders with a single hand. “Hello! I see some new faces!”

“Ugh, it’s this guy… carrying Ou-sama, too? They’re both pains…” Izumi gave a side glance away from the two that he regarded as troublemakers. “So, what were you doing that just so happened to coincide with where our king fell, Mikejima?”

This Mikejima bellowed with laughter, and it was immediately made obvious why he got along well with the equally loud Leo. “Hahaha! Quite the funny coincidence, huhhh? Y’see, I was out collecting herbs for a bit of experimenting, and Leo-san comes flying down! Nice to see you again, Izumi-san! Oh, Arashi-san is here toooo!” He rushed over and wildly shook both their hands, grinning as he did so.

Leo clapped his friend on the back, the disparity in height made all the more prominent. “Mama, we got some new faces! See, here’s… uh… Sumo… no, wait- Suo~! And this one’s… uh, I forgot actually!” He waved over at Tsukasa, then over to Yuuta.

“S-sumo? Leader, I cannot believe you likened myself to a sport,” Tsukasa complained. “Who is this rogue-looking man?”

“Mama!”

Yuuta squinted his eyes. “That’s… not a mom.”

“Ah, I’m Mikejima Madara! That’s why! Ma-ma! Haha!” Madara seemed quite pleased with himself, despite the rather haphazard self-introduction. “And you’re…”

“Oh, I’m Aoi Yuuta. I’m currently traveling with this group for reasons.” He gave a slight bow in greeting, and Madara dipped his head down as well.

Madara swung his head around, fixing his eyes onto the cage. “So… Where’s the one who punched Eichi-san in the face?” He blinked. He rushed over to Tsukasa, kicking up a cloud of dust as he held up the cage with the small dark shape. “Ooh, it’s you! Hello!”

Ritsu’s voice drifted, wavering as it floated around from no particular source. “Hey, can you be quiet… I have to sleep…” The shape began to snooze, and in no time the air was still again.

“So! Who’s this?” Madara’s incessant questions were almost a breath of fresh air, as the ones who had questions refrained from doing so. He pointed at the unconscious Shinobu, but Madara took a closer look at him. “Oh, it’s Shinobu-saaan! Hello there! It’s been a while! Do you know where Chiaki-san is?”

“You know him? And the former leader of Ryuseitai?” Yuuta was intrigued.

Madara crouched over the body, but he took a look at the face and stood up, whistling. “Was he reincarnated?” Without a side glance, Madara as well answered Yuuta’s questions. “I don’t know him personally, but I did have many legends passed down from ancestors. I also met Chiaki-san some time ago, and from him I learned about Ryuseitai. But he left, to find the other members. Too bad I can’t contact him; he seems to be having some trouble finding Kanata-san.”

Leo tapped the side of Shinobu’s sleeping face with his sheathed sword again. “This guy… Apparently something made him lose his memories of his previous life. I didn’t tell all of us before, but I’m pretty sure we’ll have to fight with that thing too. Mikejimama’s gonna be a huge help if we ever come across it.” He looked up expectantly at Madara, who grinned down.

“No need to worry, Leo-san! I’ll come along with you guys!”

With the accompanying groans from Izumi and the forced smile from Arashi, the group of eight set forth toward a nearby town.

\--

“Hey, they’ve set out a new arrest flyer for TS!” Makoto peered nervously at the billboard, reading it off: “ _Two thousand and five hundred diamonds for the capture of the traveling assassins, TS. If they are captured alive, additional payment of a thousand Yumecoins are rewarded._ ” He shivered, the breeze off the grasslands and fear contributing as well.

Subaru snatched the paper off the board, where it left a noticeable shadow. It was obvious that no one had ever thought to touch it. “I wonder how shiny that much money would be…” He began to stare off into space, still clutching the paper, but Hokuto took the paper from him and pinned it back.

“You’d die,” he said shortly. “Don’t.” Hokuto’s eyes blazed with a cold fire.

Mao laughed drily. “It’s not like Subaru would go after those guys only because the rewards are shiny, right?” He looked at Subaru, then he did a double take as he saw Subaru still daydreaming. “Right? Subaru… Right?!”

“Ahaha! They’re just like a comedy group!” Mitsuru snickered.

Tomoya and Hajime gently pushed both his shoulders from both sides. Almost as if hypnotized, they chanted in unison, “Don’t make fun of them…”

“Hinata-chan, what’s wrong with them?” Mitsuru, afraid, pointed at the two starstruck boys who were gazing at their seniors, now bantering back and forth as if they couldn’t believe it. “You think TS got them?”

Hinata looked thoughtfully at the scene. “TS doesn’t have a hypnotizer, though? They do have someone who can petrify others. There’s also… a trickster goblin, a yatagarasu, and someone who gets stronger around the middle of the month and dies but is born from ashes again.”

“Are you joking, Hinata-kun?” Tetora scoffed. “There’s no way such powerful beings could ever cooperate with each other.” He seemed less irritated by his former loss, now striving to do better, which was made prevalent by his air of focused sharpness.

Hinata happily slung his arms around Tetora and Mitsuru. “Yes way, my friends. Because I know TS personally.”

“N-no!” Hajime was shaken out of his trance in a heartbeat from the shock. “No, Hinata-kun, you can’t do this! You shouldn’t be dealing with such a bad sort-” He desperately shook Hinata’s shoulders, causing Mitsuru and Tetora to sway back and forth as well.

“You see,” garbled Hinata, “I’m telling you, I do know them! And they know me! They’re not gonna be killing me any time soon!”

Tomoya shook his head, a serious expression on his face. “We’re worried about you taking after them! What if you go on rampages or something?”

“Taking after them? I’m hundreds of years old. I’m not going to be choosing a career or something like I’m a kid, you know.” Hinata smirked. “Anyways, your complaining brought over some guys who need to hear this stuff.”

“Did you mention TS here?” Hokuto folded his arms, stern and cool. “I’m telling you, even though Akehoshi’s an idiot, he’s not going to be chasing after those guys.”

Subaru puffed up his cheeks. “I mean, I would… but I won’t. Because if I die, I’m not gonna get those sparkly rewards.”

“Speaking of TS, Makoto, you know a bit about them, right? Like info and stuff.” Mao tugged at the ropes wrapped on his torso, causing the bells to jingle again.

Makoto nodded. He pushed up his glasses. “I got some of this information when we traveled around the cities that we visited. Legend has it that the group only punishes the unlawful sort, such as those who are corrupt or dangerous somehow. They avoid attention, attacking in the midst of a crowd or during the pitch-black nighttime.” He chuckled a bit. “Well, it makes sense to avoid attention when being an assassin, so that was a given.

“They always leave a card at the scenes of their murders, which tend to be quick and precise. Like Aoi-kun said before, the members are, in order, a fairy-type kind of creature; an ice-type hawk; a dangerous snake; and a mythical bird. Of course, they take human form in order to prevent being discovered. Their human forms are unknown, however, because rumors about their appearances vary from here to there.”

“That’s quite a bit,” whistled Hinata. “Thanks for the info! Time to go bash their faces in as I go find them,” he sang.

“Hold up.” Many hands grabbed for his shoulders, pulling the fox back. Hinata whined, “I was just kidding! It was a joke, I swear! I’m not going to run off and be with them like they’re a circus troupe! They’re close enough to me already!”

Tomoya raised his eyebrows. “‘Close enough?’ Come to think of it, you did say you met them before?”

“Here and there~ I don’t wanna give away their true identities, anyways!”

“Yeah, if they hear that you know about them, you’re gonna get killed,” whispered Mitsuru, eyes wide in fear. “Hinata-chan, do we need to hide you away forever so that they don’t find you?”

“That’s not possible- hiding him, that is. According to what I’ve learned, all the members of TS are immortal; they don’t die, and they have quite the fearsome system of information.” Makoto sighed. “It might even rival that of Nito-senpai’s.”

“‘Nito-senpai?’” Hajime echoed. “Y-you know who Nii-chan is?”

The blond boy pushed up his glasses, obviously flustered at having eyes on him. “Well, I am a major part of his intelligence group. I’m not too good, though…”

“No, what’re you saying? You’ve saved them hundreds of times with the info you get,” Mao reassured. He turned to the younger ones. “If you’d want, we can use Makoto’s information and find out this Nito-senpai’s location so that you can meet up with him?”

“That’s not necessary.” A clear voice rang out, its timbre pure and high. Almost one of a child’s, though it seemed to contain an innumerable amount of responsibilities, the voice was polished. “After all, I’m here right now!” As if appearing from nowhere at all, a petite young man stepped out of the grasses. His dark blue outfit, dotted with stars and precious, looked as if it contained the entirety of the starry night, despite the sun being high in the air.

“Nii-chan!” Three voices from Tomoya, Mitsuru, and Hajime cried out, and they rushed toward him. They knocked him over, landing all of them in a heap.

In the split second before he was knocked over, everyone noticed something. “Even though they call you their big brother, you’re pretty small! And cute!” Subaru was the only one who said anything about this odd sight.

“W-well, that’sh because…” He was clearly upset, and he pushed himself up but took care not to edge aside his loving juniors. “Firsht of all, dun’ call me cute, goddit? Dun’ look down on me! Remember my name! It’s Nito Nazuna, okay? Seggund of all, they call me their bro because I asked ‘em ta! Nito? Nii-chan? Got it?”

“Nii-chan, you’re stumbling over your words again…” Tomoya offered a cup of water that he had produced from a pocket. “Here you go.”

Nazuna drank fully from the cup, gulping the water down quickly. “Awright, I feel better now! So, who’re these guys? Oh, Mako-chin!”

“Hello, Nito-senpai! These are my friends, and those two are just traveling.” Makoto went over to Nazuna, handing over some documents that he had rolled up and now taken out of his pocket. “Here are the papers you’ve been asking for. I know it’s late, but I was somewhat busy.” He looked to be almost a giant next to the small young man.

“Oh, thanks! Keep that orange kid in line, you hear? I’m not gonna stand to be ridiculed by him.”

“I-In the first place, I’m not very capable of keeping Akehoshi-kun in check, though…” Makoto bashfully laughed. “We’re not good at restraining him when he’s on a roll, you see.”

The boys who had fallen now got up, dusting themselves off, crowding behind Nazuna. Mitsuru asked, “Hey, Nii-chan! What’re you gonna be doing? Will you wander around with us?”

“We’re not wandering,” muttered Tetora. “We’ll be traveling to find Hinata-kun’s brother. And maybe get some information off this guy about my past…?” He looked, eyes slit at Hinata, who responded in a low voice, “Not until you beat me, Tetsu-kun! Heh!”

Nazuna shook his head. “Nah, I’ve still got some business in various other cities. But I do have quite the good hearing, so don’t hesitate to call for help when you need it.” With a hug of farewell to the younger ones who had bowled him over just before, Nazuna walked backward into the grass. “Hope to see you soon!” A swirling vortex opened up behind him, and he disappeared into it with a smile.

\--

High buildings jutted out from a wide expanse of glimmering sand upon the desert. They scraped the sky, shining as the sun hit them, mirroring the sky and the land. The city seemed to be there, but the next second it wasn’t. Glowing heat created a mirage.

Within the buildings, however, the air was cool. The blazing desert created a perfect barrier that would both repel and deceive any prying eyes. Inside the citadel that housed an infamous information network as well as many others, secretive dealings were taking place.

“Mm… I see. You’ve come here from the eastern cities, and you’ve never seen a city such as this? How interesting!” A young man with somewhat long blond hair curling around the nape of his neck casually conversed with a woman who seemed to be hanging on to every word he said. His smile was friendly, but there was a ferocity behind his expression somehow. Though he was talking normally, he stood in front of a door, blocking the entrance.

An angry noise mounted from beside a desk in the room. The gray-haired young man who was busily slamming papers into stacks directed his lupine yellow gaze directly at the first man, who pretended he didn’t notice. A volcano was rumbling. Then it burst. “Hey, you bastard! You girl-chaser! Don’t be ignorin’ me! Listen up! Do your work properly, else I’ll kill y-” He began to spew more words, which unnerved the woman; the blond, however, turned his back as if to shield the woman and continued talking.

“Oogami. Why do you need to cause a fuss?” A dark-skinned, well-built young man walked in the circular room from a separate entrance. “Sakuma-senpai is still sleeping.” His curt words were deep, his entire presence commanding despite his rather subordinate position.

The woman to whom the blond man had been talking to now left with a smile on her face, and he swung the door shut. He complained, “Look here, it’s because you were being so loud, doggie, that she got scared and ran off early! How could you do that?”

A drawling voice came from a niche in the wall that was cleverly concealed by dark curtains. “Yes, doggie… I am still sleeping, so do not interrupt…” Sniffling noises escalated into full-blown sobs. “When did I raise you to be this disobedient?”

“Argh, shut up, you womanizer bastard! You shut your mouth too, vampire bastard!” The subject of both their complains stomped on the ground, making up his mind to shove aside the curtains. “Let’s see how strong y’are without your precious shade, huh!”

Dark shadows spread across the ground at the moment the shades were pulled apart. A black-haired shape arose from the multiple pillows, blinking its blood-red eyes and yawning. “What time is it…?”

“That’s not the issue here!” In a gray blur, the “dog” rushed over to the stack of papers and snatched a file, shoving it in the black shape’s face. “Look! We know these guys! They’re not the type of guys to do that, right? Right, Adonis? You were in the same place as three of those guys, right?!” He swung his head over to the dark-skinned one, who walked over to see the headline.

“TS again…” Adonis murmured, but he went silent.

The shape, still half-obscured by the shadows, chuckled. “Doggie… it seems you have not retained all of your memories from your previous reincarnation. This is a common situation, for you, at least. Do you not remember when they made their decisions…?”

“Wh-what decisions?”

“That’s for you to remember. Pray that you manage to recover your memory, how about it?” Another chuckle, but this one was more proud, more pronounced. “For those children… they are yet to truly face their true destiny. Kaoru-kun, I would like some reports from the cities. Doggie, you may continue to search up information on those four and reclaim your memories. Adonis-kun… you may play your ocarina. Provide some background music, if you will. UNDEAD is now taking motion…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: i'll be productive  
> me: nah it's okay  
> well here y'all go it's been a while but have fun! by this point you guys should have a very good idea as to most of the kids' powers and also the identities of TS which i never meant to hide but they'll definitely be revealed in the future...


	6. trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hinata's group proceeds to a sacred spring after they meet nazuna and part with him, with the intention of answering someone's unfulfilled wishes. mitsuru and subaru are attacked, with only the former to escape, and mao is sent to help subaru, who had stayed fighting. many bodies drop, and the current ryuseitai are assembled, with only two missing now...

“Hey, are we there yet? Are we there yet?” Subaru’s incessant call mingled with the whistling noise of the trees.

“Hey, can I dash-dash to the place we’re going? Where are we going, anyways?” Mitsuru, as if not wanting to lose, chimed in as well. His grin was wide, stark white against the green foliage that dotted the forest floor.

“We’re going to a spring in the forest. Its properties are mysterious, but they’re quite varied. Some effects have to be activated with special chants, oddly enough as it is. The circumstances behind their activation are hazy at best, but I assure you that the spring has done its work before.” Hokuto replied mechanically. “Telling this exact same explanation to Akehoshi many times previously has engrained it into my mind.”

Subaru turned his head around from his position in the front. “Hm? Hokke~ what’d you say just now?”

“Ehehe… How nice!” Hajime smiled. “What are we going to do now?”

Hinata broke in. “On my request, we’re doing something really special! Using this little guy!” He extracted a worn cap from the folds of his clothes. It was obviously very old, judging by the nicks and scratches on the outside. But its luster was almost as if it were something that was made to look old and was actually a hat in prime condition.

“What’s that…? It looks like something from the military?” Tetora reached for the hat with wide eyes, but Hinata quickly pulled it away, sticking his tongue out and snickering, “It’s mine now, Tetsu-kun! No stealies!” Hinata held it close to his chest with a tenderness that seemed almost uncharacteristic of such an energetic guy, saying softly, “Not yours…”

The forest opened up into a circle of trees, which enclosed a pool that radiated blue and green, shining despite the waters not touching the sun. Trees that drooped over the pool curled over the water as if to lap up the droplets that splashed gently against the water’s edge. Sparkles danced across the surface of the spring, sprayed up as the wind blew lightly.

“This is the spring of remembrance,” Mao said. “Its location is only known to a select few, as the usage of these waters can be used for… unfortunate means.” His tone was light, but there was surely a pained note in there somewhere.

Mitsuru breathed in deeply, obviously liking the cool air that drifted from the pool. “Mm ahh! This is good, yanno~!”

“No, no, this is how you do it-” Subaru gestured widely towards the spring and began to take a deep breath as well, but Makoto restrained him with a tug on his arm.

Makoto made a wry smile. “A-Akehoshi-kun. This is a serious ritual. So, if you’ll be, um, distracted by this, could you leave ahead of time? We’ll need concentration from everyone here, all right?”

Subaru tilted his head, obviously distracted already by the shine that reflected off the water’s surface. “Hmm. All right. Hey, yanno-kid! Let’s go outside and race!” He cast a forlorn look over at the water, still dazzled by the light, then at Hajime. “Sorry, Shinonon! You heard them! Blame Ukki~ for this!” He grabbed Mitsuru’s hand, and without any complaints further, plunged into the trees as their laughter echoed throughout the forest.

Hajime whispered, “Ah,” and made to follow the two of them, but Tomoya tugged his hand back to keep him there.

“Hajime, I need your help to do this ritual. Hokuto-senpai and I learned this from the Masked Weirdo, but it’s necessary to have a water spirit with us. If I’m not getting the ritual wrong…?” He looked over tentatively at Hokuto, who nodded in agreement.

“Oh, all right!” The blue-haired boy turned back apprehensively. “W-what is this action for, though?”

Hinata waved around the cap, a smile on his face. Though he wore smiles all the time, this one was different somehow. It seemed as if he were willing to risk even his life to complete this task. “You’ll know soon enough. But you trust me, right?”

“Less than we should, but yes.” Hokuto sighed, setting himself down on the grass that fringed the pool, Mao and Makoto following suit and sitting behind him. “Let’s start.”

Tetora stood, still confused as to the reaction Hinata had when he reached for the cap. Then, he felt a light chop on his neck, suddenly feeling faint. He crumpled to the ground, seeing a black scene as he hit the ground.

Tomoya and Hajime, who heard the crash behind them, quickly turned around. “What was that- Tetora-kun!?” Hajime’s eyes widened in shock from seeing one of their group members on the ground. “A-are you…?” He trailed off as he saw Hinata picking up their fallen friend.

“This guy’s perfectly fine,” Hinata assured, dragging Tetora almost haphazardly to the center of the spring. “I bet he had too many naps and decided he wanted to sleep again.” He dropped Tetora down, arranging his limbs so that he was spread-eagled and forming a perfect star shape.

Tomoya sighed, sitting down. “For this ritual, you don’t really need someone to be posed like that… It’s not that morbid, dude.”

Hinata placed his hand to his mouth in a fake shocked expression placing his seat right behind Tomoya as Hajime sat next to him. “Oh, dear! I’m so sorry.”

Makoto’s expression was dark as he whispered to Hokuto, “Does this require the person whose memories are being revealed to be asleep?”

“No. For some reason, Hinata doesn’t seem to want his friend to remember anything…” Hokuto stared emptily at the spot where they had seen Hinata swiftly knock Tetora unconscious. “He would be better off otherwise, though. Why…?”

Thumping noises approached the spring they were crowded around, and Mitsuru burst into the clearing, face completely pale. “Th-there’s t-trouble…! Some bad guys… they attacked us, and Hajime-chan’s friend told me to r-run away, yanno!” He took deep breaths as everyone got to their feet in an instant. “I-I couldn’t leave him alone without help, yanno! So, please…!” He dropped to his knees, and it was at that moment that they saw blood dripping from a wound on his arm, which had been lightly grazed by what seemed to be an arrow.

“Mitsuru-kun! A-and Akehoshi-senpai!” Hajime, white with worry, made to rush to Mitsuru’s side. After applying a light bandage to Mitsuru’s arm, he nodded appreciatively as Tomoya came to Mitsuru’s side as well.

Tomoya gripped Mitsuru’s arm, asking repeatedly if he were okay, and after multiple times Mitsuru gasped, “I-I’m… all right, but that guy… there were too many, yanno…”

Hajime quickly got up, making to rush out of the clearing, but Hokuto barred his way. “Don’t go. You can’t.” His cold gaze chilled everyone to the bone. “Yuuki, Isara. One of you go to help Akehoshi. We have to complete this ritual soon, else the waters lose their magic. You, Shino. You’re necessary for this to work.”

A faint instruction came from Mitsuru, who had mustered enough strength to struggle up. “G-go… take the straight road and then turn left…”

Mao pushed Hokuto gently aside with a cool smile. “I’ll go help Subaru. Keep going… Lighten up a little, okay?” He leaned in close to Hokuto’s ear so that what he said would only be heard by the latter. “We won’t lose that easily.” He broke through the trees, running and dodging all possible snags in the road.

Hokuto sat back down, only his blue eyes darting from side to side betraying his distress. “Let’s hurry…”

“H-Hajime, Mitsuru, sit behind me.” Tomoya gestured to where he wanted them to sit, eyes cast downward in worry. “Yeah, Hokuto-senpai’s right. Let’s hurry it up.”

Hinata placed the worn-out cap on Tetora’s chest, silently taking a place next to Hajime.

Without even a word of communication, Hokuto and Tomoya closed their eyes, murmuring quietly, “Blessing from angel…” Their heads dropped down.

Hajime shut his eyes as well as Makoto motioned to him from across the clearing, and words flowed into his mind. _“Can you hear me, Hajime? Sorry about this.”_ Tomoya’s voice rang clear in his head.

 _“Shino, this is what you’ll command the waters to do…”_ Hokuto’s efficient voice instructed him to pull some water out of the pool, creating a disk of water that would show any images. It had to hover above the person being cast on.

Hajime nodded, opening his eyes as he raised his hands. He motioned, creating swirling vortexes that pulled up water from the spring. Just as instructed, the water formed a disk that seemed oddly like a screen. Everyone looked up, save the snoozing Tetora.

Almost immediately, pictures began to show on the water of someone who was Tetora, but it, at the same time, was not him. Quick images of him flashed on the screen first: tripping over a black cape; following behind a taller, red-clothed man; and running in a forest, side-to-side with two different-looking Hinatas (his twin?) and a purple-haired youth. Pictures flashed even more quickly: admiring a different red man; undergoing harsh training; and falling to the ground as an ashy color spread across his body. The water shook uncomfortably, causing ripples as the images wavered as well, and the spring lost its allotted magic.

The water caved in on itself as it rolled into a ball, then, despite Hajime’s best efforts, fell completely onto Tetora’s face, dousing him in water.

He sputtered, waking up, yelling, “You better make it back to UNDEAD safe, you hear!? Or else I’ll find you somewhere and beat you up for worrying me so much!” Tetora looked around wildly before blinking his eyes, disoriented. “Huh? What?”

His friends leapt to hold him steady as he swayed back and forth despite only sitting up. Softly, Tomoya said, “Tetora… where are you right now?”

“I’m in the forest. No, I’m out of it… Now, I’m losing feeling in my arm, my stomach, my legs… Hinata-kun, I’m sorry… I couldn’t protect you to the very end; I couldn’t help you at all… I couldn’t tell you I was all right, to make you smile again… I’m a failure.” With those words emptily spat out of his mouth in disgust, Tetora’s head lolled forward. A single tear rolled down his cheek. “I couldn’t tell you that I love… y…” He went quiet, with only the splashing sounds of a pool to fill the stifling silence.

\--

“Straight road and turn left, huh?” Mao whistled, noting the areas he saw that had the fast kid’s impression, literally. Some trees had been dotted with footprints, likely imprints that he’d made while jumping off of them. “I can just follow these trees, huh?”

Loud, brutal roars alerted him to the scene of danger, and he immediately took to that direction. “All right, then…”

Trees began to crash down around him, and Mao jumped to the side to dodge it. “What was th- Hey, Subaru, don’t scare me like that!” Subaru had appeared, having pushed down the trees.

“Whoa, sorry, Sari~! Did you come to help me? I don’t think I really needed help, though?” Subaru’s metal fan elongated, slashing the ground to ribbons around him. “See!”

“No, I don’t see!” Mao ducked a blow from some hazy enemy, swaying back and forth rhythmically as he dodged the attacks, weaving between the trees that jutted out from the ground. “Yeesh, there’s too many of them!”

Subaru laughed. “Sari~, what’re you doing? Isn’t your specialty dealing with lots of problems, anyway? Why’re you dodging all of them?” He opened the fan, which shot out blades from its edges. “They’re not really shiny, so there’s no need to go easy on ‘em, okay? Otherwise, I’d totally get distracted by them!” The blades pierced the enemies, which dispersed into smoke. However, new shapes appeared on the other side of the clearing.

Mao took notice of this, eyes widening as he noticed the workings of their current opponent. “Subaru, when I count to three, jump as high as you can!”

“Huh? Why, why?”

“One!”

“I’m telling you, why?”

“Two!”

“All right then! Tell me later, stingy!” Subaru jumped off the side of the trees, hopping back and forth until he reached the highest point. He took a direct leap upwards, and his feet cleared the canopy just as Mao yelled, “Three!”

Mao shrugged off the ropes that were bound on his torso. He removed them, unfurling them to a length that was impossible for their physical shape, swinging the ropes in a circle that radiated out from him as the center. The ropes created a blue and white swirl that slashed at the enemies’ middle sections and cut them in half, dispersing the twenty or so shapes that had assembled there. It seemed as if they were going to reassemble once more…

Mao tugged on the ropes, his hair blazing pure white for a second. It went back to normal as licks of flames began to radiate from the ropes. The warmth from the rings of fire was unbearable, becoming rising pillars of death should anyone ever approach them. They reached heights that almost reached the trees’ tops, sending the shapes to ashes that settled on the forest floor.

Mao retrieved the ropes, which now shortened back into their original shape. He stumbled, tying them back onto his body gingerly, wincing as he pressed at his side.

Subaru landed lightly on the ground, tapping the ashes. “Whew, Sari~, you really did a number on them!”

Mao looked back at Subaru. He began, “Subaru, you were totally able to handle them by yourself…” He faltered.

He tried to start again, but words couldn’t come out of his mouth. “Take… care…!” He fell down, steam hissing from his body as it turned gray. His eyes were wide open, mouth still gaping from unsaid words. His companion sat next to him with an unreadable expression, quietly observing something that happened quite often.

\--

“Hey, Kanata! Where are you?” A loud shout echoed across the seas, attracting the eyes of curious onlookers. “It’s the ocean, Kanataaaa! Where are youuuu?”

Trailing some distance behind the shouting person, a tall young man, dressed in an outfit that seemed much too flashy for his reserved personality, sighed. “Why did I go along with this loud guy… He’s asking around but not even asking; he’s just screaming out a name…” He tried not to bump into the people chatting alongside the beach, but his being a head above everyone else basically made him a beacon. He groaned as more people, taking notice of his height and clothes, cleared pathways for him. “Why am I so tall, anyways…?”

“Takamine! You look for Kanata, too! We gotta find him soon!” In an alternating white, black, and red outfit, the leader of Ryuseitai cheerfully egged on his companion, two years his junior. “Call out for him like this: ‘Shinkai Kanata, I am Morisawa Chiaki, leader of Ryuseitai! We are currently searching for you in order to restore peace to the world and search for our missing companions!’” He cupped his mouth with two hands, wanting to amplify his volume that was already loud enough.

“N-no thanks… I’m Takamine Midori and I just think this is depressing and I want to die.” Midori sighed again, rubbing his neck. “When are they going to find us, anyway… I really hope Tetora-kun and Sengoku-kun save me somehow…”

A soft, pleasant voice came from behind Midori, unbeknownst to the shouting Chiaki. “Hello.”

Without turning back, Midori froze, choosing his response very carefully. “H-hello?”

“Are you looking for Kanata?”

“Yes…?”

The voice chuckled. “That ‘sounds’ nice… Puka, puka…” It got farther and quieter as the owner of the voice walked away slowly.

“Huh?” Midori turned around, registering that the voice he had heard just now was extremely familiar. Not as if he’d heard it before, but it rang a bell in his memories, and he squinted at the shape that had just walked away. That voice was… “Shinkai-senpai?”

“Yes…?” Humming, Kanata turned around. His eyes were just as piercing green as Midori had recalled, but he was wearing something different. A hazy veil fluttered behind him as a cape, and a dark cap that sat precariously atop his sea-blue hair was tall. His kimono looked feminine, white and dotted with lilac-colored flowers, and it gave an ethereal air to him. “Midori, have you been doing ‘well?’”

Oddly enough, the people chatting gave the two a wide berth, as if they were naturally repelled by Kanata’s presence. Midori looked around, confused, and nodded quickly as an answer to the question. He turned around, calling, “Morisawa-senpai… Um, come here?”

Chiaki whipped around, eyes first trying to focus on Midori’s location. As soon as he saw Midori, his gaze went further to spot Kanata. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he dashed toward his second-in-command. “K-Kanataaaa…!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i finished this in one day because i was bored. chiaki's outfit is his ryuseitai third cd one, midori's is his baton pass one, and kanata's is his wisteria blossoms outfit!


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